


In Any Other World: xxxHolic Side

by MemoryDragon



Series: In Any Other World [2]
Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Comic Book Violence, De-aging, Fighting empty suits of armor, Gen, Haruka-san is my favorite, I enjoy tormenting Watanuki far too much, It shows, Misusage of Tennyson poems, Mugetsu is pretty bad ass, No one loses an eye, Post-Tanpopo, Pre-Dreaming arc, Suspense, Well not that they haven't already, xxxHolic side is probably the better of the two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-22
Updated: 2008-06-22
Packaged: 2017-11-16 23:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/545162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoryDragon/pseuds/MemoryDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watanuki finds himself in a peculiar predicament due to one of Yuuko's errands. It becomes the least of his worries when Doumeki begins to act strangely. Once the archer disappears, what does Watanuki have to do to get him back?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Another Story

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings:** Little bit of fluff and Watanuki torment. Oh, and cliff hangers. Lots of those.  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHOlic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic.  
>  **Time Line:** Some time after Himawari-chan gets Tanpopo, but before Watanuki makes everyone gloves and starts dreaming heavily. It's the best time line for what I want to write, with out getting too heavily into Kohane-chan. She didn't quite fit into the shape of the fic, unfortunately. And since Doumeki needed to be able to see spirits, there was the best place to put the fic in the time line.  
>  **Author's Thanks:** Much love to Neko, who stepped up and betaed when I couldn't find anyone else!  
>  **Notes: *Important to read*** This is the second of two fics written side by side of each other. You don't need to read both stories to enjoy this one, but if you do want to read the Tsubasa story as well, please read one chapter of the Tsubasa then the corresponding chapter of the xxxHolic fic. Kind of an annoying way to read, I know, but that's how they were meant to be read. Since the Tsubasa fic comes first, you might want to read that chapter before this one.
> 
>  **Originally Posted:** Jun. 22, 2008

~ _Another Story_ ~  
  
 _In any other world,_  
 _You could tell the difference._  
 _And let it all unfurl_  
 _Into broken remnants_

“Who’s idea was this?!” Watanuki Kimihiro growled at his partner/rival. Not that he expected Doumeki Shizuka to answer when the other teenager was plugging his hears against the torrent of complaints. It didn’t annoy him too much any more, however. By this point, it was almost routine.

Besides, he was currently too annoyed at the sign hanging around his neck that said in big, bright letters, “All you can eat Spiritual Buffet!” Doumeki took second place to this latest indignity placed upon him by his evil mistress. “Honestly, does Yuuko-san _want_ me to be eaten by the monsters?!”

Doumeki simply shrugged, for once not coming up with any smart alack remark. It irked Watanuki to no end, having to bring the other teenager along on yet another job, but he couldn’t exactly exorcise the spirits himself. And that _was_ the job Yuuko had set for them...

_“Wa-ta-nu-ki!” a strong alto voice called out to him as he swept the floor. He glanced back at the woman lounging about seductively on the porch. Her traditional kimono was opened to reveal just the right amount of scandalous flesh to real in unsuspecting bait. It was the tone in her voice that set Watanuki on guard, however. That was the kind of voice she only used when she either wanted alcohol, or was going to send him on the sort of mission that generally ended with him adding several more years of servitude to his already illustrious debt. He hoped it was the former._

_“What now?” He asked in exasperation, not breaking in his rhythmic sweeping. “I’m not getting you any more beer tonight. You’re going to be hung over tomorrow as it is.”_

_“Watanuki is so cruel...” Yuuko pouted, eyes lingering on the last can she had emptied. It was an odd sight, since Yuuko usually matched her drink to her outfit. But tonight she decided to be spontaneous. “He always assumes I just want more to drink...”_

_He felt his stomach plummet. It was a job. “Then what do you want?” Resignation this time. As Yuuko liked to say, this was inevitable. The worst was that he would probably end up bringing her more beer anyway._

_“There’s a job I need you to do...” She smiled winsomely, insinuating far more than the job would be by the playful batting of her eyes. The hair on the back of Watanuki’s neck stood up on end. This was going to be a particularly bad one. “And you need to take Doumeki with you! There’s something I need you to get, since my specialty store can’t provide this one.”_

_Something Yuuko’s specialty store couldn’t get? That somehow made the unknown job scarier. Add to the fact she wanted him to drag Doumeki along only meant more trouble. Then she smirked and he knew his fate was doomed..._

“Tell me again why I have to wear this bloody sign?!” Watanuki asked for the millionth time.

“Because that person thought it would be amusing?” Doumeki’s eyes glanced from side to side, looking for any sort of incoming danger. It made Watanuki swallow his next complaint with a little bit of guilt. He really shouldn’t be distracting the archer at times like this. It would only make him feel worse if Doumeki got hurt protecting him again. Watanuki knew better than to feel guilty about it but still he... worried.

Especially since he was sitting in the middle of a grave yard with a sign advertising that he was free food in the middle of the night. Then again, maybe he was over-reacting after all. He _was_ spirit bait that had a tendency to attract nasty spirits and this _was_ only a grave yard that was generally very attractive places for such monsters. So what if common sense screamed that he should be running the opposite direction? Yes, he was just over reacting... and Yuuko hated alcohol.

Watanuki shifted uncomfortably on the ground next to one of the graves, giving up on his inner sarcasm to take a quick glace around. The nearest grave was a small shrine for Yoshida Keiji, whoever that was. It wasn’t very well kept, but they were in a very old section of the grave yard. It was possible that this person had no more living relatives to clean the grave. It was a little unsettling to Watanuki, who couldn’t remember the last time he had visited his own parents grave. Had there been a reason or-

His thoughts stopped, back tracking to simply thinking about Yoshida Keiji’s grave. As if by magic, Watanuki didn’t even remember thinking about it. The seal on his memories wasn’t strained enough yet. He was only left with a sense that he had just forgotten something semi-important.

The spooky atmosphere plus the fact that he couldn’t remember what he had just been thinking about almost made him want to move closer to Doumeki. Almost. He still has his pride after all. But grave yards in the middle of the night were far from the best place for a person like him to be, even with someone like Doumeki for protection...

“Oi.”

A flashlight shined directly into his eyes and was a welcome, if annoying, awakening from his thoughts. “What the hell are you trying to do!?” Watanuki yelled furiously, shielding his eyes with his hands.

Doumeki lowered his flash light and once his eyes could re-adjust to the night’s darkness. His eyes must still be playing tricks on him, because he could almost see concern on the other teen’s face. “Do you see anything?”

“Nothing more than you.” Which worried Watanuki. Going into the graveyard at this time of night should have been suicide, even with Doumeki there. But the waxing crescent moon was enough light to see by, along with the flash lights they both brought. So far, they hadn’t seen or heard anything threatening, however. Watanuki had the eerie feeling that it was the calm before a storm.

Since it was Doumeki that moved closer to him and not the other way around, Watanuki didn’t protest all that much. They sat in silence on the cold pavement for a few more moments before Doumeki spoke again, his eyes continuously scanning the moonlit scenery. “How long did she want us to stay here?”

“Yuuko-san said to stay until midnight and to return home if nothing happened by then.” Watanuki started to fidget again, noting they still had an hour to wait.

“And if something happened?”

“She didn’t say.”

That hour was spent more or less in silence. Watanuki was too jumpy to really complain anymore, starting at every cricket’s chirp and every wind’s whisper. Doumeki didn’t comment, preferring to keep his hand on his bow. He never ceased from his tense vigil. Watanuki was growing used to Doumeki’s expressions by now, and though the archer looked calm, he could see hidden lines of agitated energy on his face. They both felt something in the air, waiting to strike.

The concrete grew steadily more uncomfortable with each passing second, but trying to move to a more comfortable position might attract the attention of something nasty. The night was too serene for such an eerie setting. Every few minutes, Watanuki would check his watch to see if time had some how sped up and it was already twelve. He didn’t want to stay in the graveyard a second longer than he had to.

When there was only fifteen minutes left, however, Watanuki felt a false sense of release from the nervous energy build up. He started to stretch and relax. “It’s 11:45 now. I’m sure Yuuko-san wouldn’t mind if we left a little early, right? I mean, nothing has happened yet, so why should it in the next fifteen minutes?” Watanuki took off the sign and tossed it aside with disdain.

Doumeki shrugged, still uneasy. In the other teen’s eyes, Watanuki could read the conclusion that he had been avoiding: A lot could happen in fifteen minutes, especially on one of Yuuko’s errands. It had only taken a matter of seconds for the last big fiasco when he fell out the window...

“L-let’s just start heading back.” He got up and started walking, trying to shake the nervous feeling. He could hear Doumeki start to protest and get to his feet. But his senses were suddenly cut off after that and replaced with a horrible stench followed by complete darkness.

“Here, now. I thought you’d never leave that pure person’s side. I was starting to get desperate.” An old, cracking voice said as Watanuki’s hand immediately went up to his mouth. He started coughing, but couldn’t pull away from the darkness enshrouding him. “My, you’ll make such a nice dinner,” it spoke again, this time laughing.

He fought to stay conscious as a wrinkled and bony hand draped across his chest, pulling him back against whoever it was with an iron grip. Dry lips stared kissing the side of his neck and his eyes shot open. “Doumeki!” he cried out, struggling as hard as he could.

The crone laughed again, pulling Watanuki’s body even closer. Grizzled ends of a beard prickled at the back of his neck and the stench over whelmed him. He could barely hear the crone’s voice in his ear before he fell completely unconscious. “There’s no escape,” it said with a snide laugh as Watanuki felt his mind drift away into nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quote of the Chapter:
> 
> "There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved."  
> -W. Somerset Maugham


	2. Strange Predicaments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** A little bit of fluffy Himawari/Doumeki friendship. Also, a slightly over-used plot device. Wanted to take my shot at the stereotype, I guess. Hopefully though, it's different enough that I've put my own twist on things. There's only a small cliff hanger this time. Don't get used to it. XD  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHolic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic.

“Come and get me, little shrine boy,” the hag cackled in its high pitched voice.

Doumeki was on his feet the moment Watanuki disappeared and he pivoted toward the direction of the voice in a blink of an eye. Through the moonlight, he saw (and smelled) an old hag with grinning yellow teeth under a disgustingly grizzled beard. Her skin was so baggy that even it’s warts threatened to fall off at any second. And her smell... Was this what always doubled Watanuki over? He could understand now.

He pulled the arrow tight across the bow, fully intending to send this monster back into oblivion. But he stopped cold when he saw what it held as a shield. “What’s the matter, shrine boy? Can’t hit me?” She held up an unconscious Watanuki to cover her ugly features, holding the teenager in a tight embrace. His best friend’s head lay draped on the crone’s shoulder, his face showing the nightmare that he was having in her arms.

His grip strengthened on the bow, yet he could not hit the hag without also hitting Watanuki. He glanced around for other options, but found none.

“Not going to fight?” the hag crooned in it’s sandpaper soprano voice. If he could just get around to the side of the ugly pile of bones and skin... “Then I’ll start taking this little one’s life away.” Doumeki’s eyes snapped back to the hag, but it was already biting into Watanuki’s neck. He tumbled to the right, drawing his bow again before he even had the chance to straighten out, but the hag also turned and continued to face him. It remained unfazed in it’s ugliness.

The archer was about to try taking a step forward to see the hag’s reaction when he caught something strange happening to Watanuki. His friend looked... younger? And if it were at all possible, the hag was getting older and more hideous.

Watanuki was definitely getting smaller. And if Doumeki waited a few more seconds, the crone would expose just enough of itself for him to get a clear shot. His rational mind told him it was a risk, but it was his best chance. Stepping forward might force it into running with its prey. That, above all things, Doumeki Shizuka would not allow. It took all his control not to move from his position to stop the hag from continuing to drain his friend’s life away.

Six... Five... Four... There! Doumeki stopped his silent count down and loosed the arrow into the crone’s shoulder. It shrieked, a sound more powerful and harmful than any of Watanuki’s yells. His bow fell to the ground as he scrambled to cover his ears from the awful sound. After a few hellish seconds, the noise stopped.

The archer let his hands fall from his ears in relief. The feeling didn’t last for too long however, as his adrenaline chilled when he remembered Watanuki. He kneeled down on the cold pavement, gently pulling the child - for Watanuki was no longer a teenager - into a position that Doumeki could examine him. He pulled the now over-sized shirt collar away from Watanuki’s neck and just barely ran his calloused fingers over the two bite marks he found there. Guilt swelled up, but he pushed it away for now. Better check the child’s pulse on his wrists.

He ascertained that Watanuki was still breathing and had a steady, if faint pulse before the archer let himself relax a little. As far as he could tell, the overly obnoxious teenager was now about six or seven years old. His clothes were way too big for his now small frame, but Doumeki didn’t have anything else that could fit on him. It's not like Yuuko had mentioned the possibility of age regression so he could prepare for it.

Doumeki hesitated. He needed to get Watanuki back to the shop for the witch’s prognosis, but carrying a child over his shoulder like he usually did when the his friend passed out hardly seemed appropriate. Not to mention his clothes would fall off easily that way. The archer slung his bow over his shoulder and decided to carry the child back in his arms, even though he knew the boy would become heavy pretty quickly.

Before he picked up the child, however, Doumeki surveyed the area for the arrow that he had fired. It hadn’t been one that was made of his chi because he preferred to use real arrows when he had them on hand. Considering tonight's errand, he made sure to bring some along. The only problem with normal arrows is that they shouldn’t be wasted if he could help it. The arrow was no where to be found, which lead him to the conclusion that the hag must have gotten away.

Something else did catch his eye, however. He found a smooth red stone with the moon’s light. It obviously didn’t belong to the grey stones of the grave yard. Thinking that it might be important, Doumeki pocketed the stone and wondered what sort of payment the witch would want for Watanuki to be returned to normal.

* * *

Watanuki awoke with a start. He sat up suddenly, wishing his better instincts had told him to stay as he had been. The boy didn’t argue as a fuzzy figure pushed him back down on the bed. That hurt _far_ more than he had expected. Though, really he should be used to it by now. First falling from a window now... whatever had just happened. Especially after the nightmare he had been having, he really should have expected at least some form of pain. He hadn't expected the majority of the pain to be in his neck, however.

Closing his real eye, he left the one he shared with Doumeki open in an attempt to see better. Lines were a little less fuzzy now. He’d feel better with his glasses, but Watanuki was surprised to find he could actually see better. Well, with one eye at least. “What-” he started to ask, his voice cracking with dryness.

“You were too impatient,” came a calm reply of a smooth alto voice. Watanuki groaned. Yuuko-san... “You know, if you had waited 15 more minutes, the hag would have shown itself without being able to take you hostage and none of this would have happened. It would have gotten too impatient to get to you.”

The witch chuckled softly, letting the unspoken ‘if you had just followed instructions’ sink in. He wasn’t sure if it was that or a small amount of pity that had crept into her voice. He was fairly certain it was one of the two that made him want to bash his head against the wall.

A ceramic cup touched his lips as he felt cool water trickle down his parched throat. Watanuki drank it gratefully. When the cup pulled away, he felt a little better. At least, the pounding of his skull was retreating... “How much this time?” he asked, before the headache decided to come back. Not like Yuuko’s answer would be anything less than a migraine inducer.

If he could have made out the faint blur that was her lips, Watanuki had no doubt that those lips would have been smiling wickedly. “The price is being paid. Before I can grant this wish, however, you have to gain back what the spirit took from you. A task, might I add, that just got harder on multiple levels.” A soft hand pushed away some of the hair on his forehead, forming a gentle caress. Was Yuuko’s hand a little bit bigger than usual? He was probably just imagining things...

He thought about what the witch said for a few moments. The price already ‘being paid’ meant Doumeki had probably given up something else to help save his life. His chest tightened in pain, though not from whatever had happened to bring him to this state. Watanuki knew that guilt wasn’t how he should be feeling. Recent events had taught him that much. But still, he couldn’t help...

Watanuki was beginning to realize just how much bigger the bed seemed. It hadn’t been too long since he had last woken up in this very same bed, but now he felt dwarfed by it. Automatically, his hand reached out for his glasses, but came up with only empty air. “Doumeki-kun is getting you a new pair for your current condition. He should be back shortly.”

Current condition? That didn’t sound very good. “They were broken?” he asked, trying to keep the dread from piling up too high through denial. He was pretty good at denial, so it worked for the moment at least.

“Ah, Doumeki-kun. Come in, come in.” Yuuko said, not answering his question. He could hear some shuffling towards the back of the room as a blurry Doumeki came in. “Watanuki is awake.”

Doumeki came closer, becoming a little less blurry. He passed the glasses to Yuuko, not looking his direction. Watanuki felt the level of uncomfortable silence rise significantly. Another pang of guilt hit Watanuki. Just what had happened?

When he felt the oval pair of glasses put in his hand, Watanuki wasted no time putting them on again. Thanks to Doumeki, he could now get around if he had to without his glasses. Still, he much preferred having them on. Clarity returned, he noted happily.

What he saw was disorienting, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Yuuko was at his side, a small, sad smile on her face. Doumeki had taken up residence leaning against the far wall, looking down at his feet intently. But something... Did the two of them seem bigger than normal? The room too. He looked down at his own body to find he was in an over-size shirt and he was, point in fact, _smaller_ than he usually was. Watanuki laid back down slowly, piecing together what all of this meant.

This was obviously not one of his better days at the shop.

Too tired to fully grasp the situation, he went with the easy questions. “Can this be fixed?” His own voice sounded weak and childish to his ears. Shock? Or maybe just a little bit of hysteria? Honestly, he wouldn’t have been all that surprised to have both. How else should one feel when one has been shrunk?

“Eventually. The wish has already been taken care of. Until then, you get to relive your childhood days as a six year old.” Yuuko sounded far too cheerful about this prospect.

Not shrunk then. Just a victim of reverse aging. And Doumeki seemed intent on taking the brunt of Watanuki’s mistake. Again. What else could go wrong?

“It’s impossible to get you back to normal before the specter that took the years you’ve lost is dead,” Yuuko continued, not taking note of Watanuki’s falling confidence. Of course. Why else would he still be stuck like this if perfect Doumeki had already made the wish? “And now that it’s wounded, it probably won’t come out again for a while. Not even to finish off it’s earlier snack.”

Watanuki closed his eyes with a sigh. This was just ducky. He figured wishing he could become smaller so he could avoid Yuuko’s gaze was a particularly bad move given his current situation. He ignored that part of his conscious. “How long then?”

Yuuko paused. Not a good sign... “Maybe a week? Maybe a month-”

“A month!?” Watanuki sat up quickly, eyes shooting open. The world started spinning again, but that wasn’t about to keep him down now. “I can’t miss that much school! I’ve already missed so much because of...” Something he didn’t want to bring up at the moment. He shut up quickly, trying instead to stop his head from whirring around too much. Watanuki closed his eyes agin. “Is there anything that can be done to bring it out sooner?”

Someone walked out. He opened his eyes to see that Doumeki was gone. Yuuko’s mouth showed no wickedness now, just a weary smile. “All in good time. For now, just rest. Your body still needs to adjust to the change.”

Watanuki laid back down, closing his eyes for the last time. The smell of incense Yuuko kept around the shop got stronger, making him sleepy. The last thing he remembered was a pair of graceful hands gently slipping off his glasses.

* * *

Doumeki quietly sat in the empty space that the archery team used to practice. Not quite meditating, but he wasn’t actually practicing either. His eyes never left the target, though he had no bow in his hand.

It was lunch time, but without Watanuki at school there was no point in going to their usual spot. He much preferred actually being alone to being alone in a crowed place. Now he was isolating himself rather than everyone else isolating him. Here, he could also avoid admirers who simply couldn’t break through his walls.

Maybe that was why he helped Watanuki so much. Blind hatred was hard to come by when one was viewed by the world as perfect and mysterious. Watanuki was as high maintenance as kitten (all that waving about, chasing after things only he could see), but it meant he was actually needed. Funny, that, needing someone to make him feel needed. It was the sort of give and take of their relationship that never failed to seem one sided, even if the opposite was the closer to the truth.

He heard footsteps behind him, but didn’t turn to look. This was where she always found him when something had happened to Watanuki. She knew that the lanky teen wasn’t in school that day and nine times out of ten that meant something had happened. “Will he be at school tomorrow?” Kunogi asked, coming to sit down next to him. The unlucky girl didn’t have to clarify who ‘he’ meant.

Doumeki shook his head, not even looking up at the girl. Her long wavy hair was all he could see out of the corner of his good eye. “He’s at the shop. If you’re going to visit, I’ll need to be there too.”

“I know.” Doumeki heard Tanpopo chirp happily on Kunogi’s shoulder. He figured that she was smiling and petting the bird, even though he couldn’t see her. “It’s not your fault. Doumeki-kun always tries his hardest to protect Watanuki-kun.”

He stubbornly stared at the target, trying to avoid any view of Kunogi. What he didn’t say was that she couldn’t have known that. She hadn’t been there. What she didn’t say wasn't that it was his fault because it was probably hers. Neither of them were willing to break the silence of the unspoken conversation and share the guilt.

Finally, Kunogi spoke up again. “How is he? Was it serious?”

“Not... like the last time.” he wondered how much to tell her. A normal person wouldn’t have believed it, but Kunogi was a different story all together. “He’s reverted back to being a six year old.”

“In mind or body?”

“Body. He still has part of my eye though, so it’s not quite reverting...”

Doumeki wasn’t all that surprised when he finally looked over at the girl to find that Kunogi looked positively gleeful. For once, however, he didn’t feel like joining in her plot to tease Watanuki. She clapped her hands and smiled up at him brightly, trying to pull him from his somberness. “I always wanted to know what Watanuki-kun was like as a child! Would you wait for me after the student council meeting?”

He nodded. Kunogi stood up and reached into her bag. She pulled out a store bought lunch and put it next to Doumeki. “Don’t forget to eat,” she said by way of parting. “Though, I suppose the only one who could cheer you up properly is Watanuki-kun.” With that, she left the archer staring after her, alone with his thoughts once again.

The shrine boy glanced down at the lunch with a sigh. She was right. He did need to eat. Doumeki picked up the lunch set and began to work his way through one of the sandwiches. He needed to remember to thank Kunogi for it later. Or perhaps, it was a small token of gratitude for allowing her to visit Watanuki. Either way-

A sharp pain in his chest nearly caused him to double over. He dropped the sandwich, though he managed to save the rest of the meal. It was over as quickly as it came but his breathing took a lot longer to even out again.

Going to Yuuko’s shop after school was becoming more and more appealing.

* * *

Watanuki smelled the faint sent of tobacco before he saw Doumeki’s grandfather. His dream senses noted that in this place, at least, he was back to his normal age. The simple yukata he wore and the lack of glasses marked this as a dream. Of course, Haruka showing up clued him if he was in a particularly dense mood.

“Having a bit of trouble?” Golden eyes and an encouraging smile greeted Watanuki as he took a seat next to his rival’s look-a-like. Haruka’s cigarette glowed faintly between his fingers as the older man regarded him with a gentle gaze.

Watanuki nodded. The kind expression on Haruka’s face still took some adjusting to. He wasn’t used to seeing a smile on Doumeki’s face...

“What’s on your mind?”

“Doumeki keeps paying the price to keep me safe.” Watanuki said, eyeing his so often useless hands. “But I... I don’t feel like I give him anything in return.” He watched a small frown flicker across Haruka’s face. The dead man brought the cigarette up to his lips and inhaled. “All I really do is make him lunch everyday. Hardly payment for everything he does. I know... I know it’s not something that I should fault myself or Doumeki for. But still, I...”

The frown eased slightly, returning to Haruka’s normal gently teasing smile. Watanuki wasn’t naive enough to be able to deny why it had been there. But his answer had satisfied Haruka sufficiently. “It’s more than just lunch that you give Shizuka.”

“Eh?”

More than just lunch? Watanuki looked up at Haruka, wondering what the older man meant. But Haruka exhaled, smoke disappearing in the dream like air. “Just remember that.”

Watanuki nodded, unsure of what else to say. The dream air of the temple smelled so fresh, just like after a storm was over. The smell of cigarettes couldn’t even mask that. A firefly drifted by, even though they were currently out of season in the real world.

He was trying very hard not to ask the obvious question, as Watanuki doubted he would receive an answer. In the end, however, his mouth started to form the question before he could stop it. “What more... What else do I give to Doumeki?”

Haruka smiled, this time amusement and light teasing showing through broadly. “You’ll have visitors soon.”

“But-”

“Wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: Yes, I know the "Let's turn the main character into a child!" plotline is completely over done. But since I'm not using it as a device to get the two main characters together, Watanuki still has the mind of teenager, and Mem enjoys tormenting him later on because of his shortness, I figure it's different enough to go ahead and try it.
> 
> Conversation of the Chapter
> 
> "I can see every detail of the earth surface as I'm seeing it now. But after my father died, I tried to remember his face. But it always slipped away from me. Why is that, I wonder?"  
> "Maybe it's because we can't decide which face to remember; the face of father when we were children, the face of our father the first time we left home, the face of our father the last time we saw him. They all blur together, we lose the details, but Earth is constant. Earth is forever."  
> "You're too young to be having thoughts this old, Lieutenant."  
> \--Captain Gideon and Lieutenant Matheson, Crusade


	3. Child's Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Doumeki's acting a little strange in this chapter, but there is reason. Also, there's a bit more Haruka-san thrown in just because I love him so. There's also a little bit of Watanuki fawning. But like I said, no romance. So it's just his usual fawning. XD  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHolic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic.

“Hey, what’s wrong with the two of you?! Stop that!” Watanuki screamed at Maru and Moru as they danced around him. He was trying to prepare dinner, which was hard enough with the body of a six year old. But to have the two of them constantly dancing around him, especially now that they were slightly taller than him, made things ten times messier than normal. It didn’t help maters that the only children’s clothes that Yuuko had around was a very uncomfortable set that looked right out the 18th century. The shorts and suspenders he didn’t mind, but the shirt was stiff and hard to move around in. And the little grey cap Yuuko insisted that he wear was a constant annoyance on his head.

Watanuki tipped perilously, but caught himself just in time. Maru and Moru continued their chant. He had already dropped two pans of water for boiling and this third pot was dangerously close to falling out of his hands to the floor again. “Would you stop-”

Too late. The pot was spilling on the floor and he was fast in following it. But instead of breaking his nose on the now wet floor, a pair of strong hands steadied him. Maru and Moru squealed and ran off, chanting about how Watanuki had been saved again.

He didn’t have to turn around to see who it was. “Thank you,” Watanuki stammered, still unused to saying it to his rival. At least by now he wasn’t nearly as irked by it as he used to be. If the moron was going to stand there anyway, he might as well be usual, Watanuki reasoned. It certainly wasn’t because Watanuki was taking comfort in his rival’s constant presence. Of course not.

Watanuki didn’t hear a response, but he wasn’t exactly expecting one either. Not from Mr. I-have-no-clue-how-to-interact-with-people-properly. He sighed inwardly and started cleaning up the watery mess (again) and Doumeki refilled the pot, placing it on the stove. A task that was usually so easy for Watanuki, even with the twin terrors dancing around him. He hated the helpless feelings that this child body brought back.

Doumeki helped him prepare the rest of the meal in silence. Watanuki yelled. Watanuki ranted. Because he certainly hadn’t asked for the help. But oddly, Doumeki sat through it all without any of his usual comebacks. Even for that silent jerk, this was too quiet. It was almost if... Doumeki was distracted by something.

It was quickly forgotten when Watanuki realized that his rival actually was a passable cook. Not anywhere up to Watanuki’s standard of course, but he could apparently fend for himself well enough. So why it was up to Watanuki to make all of the unemotional moron’s meals when he could make his own lunches? It irked him slightly, in a way that he couldn’t quite pin down and made him all the more irritable.

He bit back the comment, however. Because if he mentioned this particular thing out loud it would be admitting his rival was _good_ at cooking. Watanuki wasn’t going to admit his rival was good at _anything_ other than getting under his skin. Instead, he mumbled to himself indignantly as he fell into a pattern of chopping vegetables.

Even though he had to stand on a stool to reach the counter top, he found that he was quickly forgetting his small stature as the rhythm of cooking took over. He even found himself humming after a short while. Since Doumeki was off in his own world, Watanuki didn’t stop himself. Cooking was something that he enjoyed. Even stupid Doumeki couldn’t ruin that!

A sight of over-boiling water pulled him out of his pleasant mood soon enough. He had forgotten that Doumeki often _did_ ruin his mood while cooking, even if it was generally by eating something he wasn’t supposed to. “Doumeki! You’re burning the pasta! Pay attention!”

The idiot in question moved the pot off the burner and poured more water into the pot, a look of faint surprise on his face. Again, Watanuki felt something was out of place. Doumeki had barely spoken a word since he had arrived... And it wasn’t like him to be this unfocused.

He moved the stool over and looked at the pasta, stirring it to see if it was still salvageable. He had to stand on tip toe to see over the pot, but most of the pasta was undamaged. Caught just in time.

He moved the stool back to his cutting station, but kept a keen eye on his rival. If Doumeki noticed, he didn’t show it. Normally, Doumeki would have bluntly and rudely asked what Watanuki was staring at, which bothered him much more than he would care to admit. “Doumeki, what’s-”

“More sake!” came a half drunk voice from down the hall. He sighed, compliantly moving his stool to be able reach to the alcohol cabinet. Considering Doumeki hadn’t even noticed that he had been trying to start up a dialogue, might as well put it off a little while longer.

Perhaps it was fate, but Watanuki never got another chance to ask. Himawari turned out to be in the other room with Yuuko and he had to protect her from the evil witch’s intentions. He was actually a little embarrassed to talk to her at first, due to his 'condition.' But she just smiled and commented how cute he looked. For the first time, he didn’t mind the 18th century western outfit, since Himawari thought it was adorable.

The dinner went well, though he kept having this nagging feeling that something was wrong with Doumeki. He should be pleased that his rival opted out of most of the conversation, making him easier to forget. A couple times he caught Yuuko staring intently in his rival’s direction with a blank expression on her face. That alone was enough to clamp down his stomach and ruin his appetite.

As a result, Watanuki didn’t rant and rave for most of the meal. Yuuko and Mokona baited him a few times, but it was a fairly calm and orderly affair otherwise. This didn’t go unnoticed, for as she was bidding everyone good-bye, Himawari quietly asked him about the ordeal, kneeling down so they could talk eye to eye. “You don’t seem to have your usual energy tonight, Watanuki-kun. Has something happened to Doumeki? He was fine at school, but on the way here and though dinner tonight...”

Jealousy flared up, but this was hardly the time to air it. The pit in his stomach was too deep to really react. “I’m... not sure. He does seem to be acting strangely. He won’t say anything though.” Watanuki didn’t say because he hadn’t asked. Nor did he mention Yuuko’s strange looks between her drinks.

“Watanuki and Doumeki are such good friends, for you to worry this much.” She smiled one of her sweet, oblivious smiles that Watanuki both craved and dreaded.

Annoyance won out this time. “I’m not worried about that jerk. Doumeki can take care of himself.” And anyone else who happened to be overly loud spirit bait. Again, he didn’t say that part out loud, because it would be admitting that he actually needed his rival.

Himawari kept on smiling. It was enough to send him to a euphoria of bright sparkling fireworks and hearts. “I’m sure if Watanuki-kun is watching out for him, Doumeki-kun will be fine. Let me know if I can help!” Shot down right out of the sky with a trail of black smoke. At least Himawari-chan thought him capable? But she was still worried about his rival...

Because of that, Watanuki didn’t bring up his questions as Doumeki left in a daze. The archer could start his own conversation if something was bothering him. Watanuki huffed as he cleaned the dishes from his stool, resolving to put the matter from his mind.

* * *

With a sigh of relief, Watanuki found that he woke up to his normal high school-aged body. It was short lived, unfortunately, since his plain yukata and lack of glasses gave away the fact that he was once again dreaming. So much for being cured.

The faint smell of cigarette smoke and fireflies of the Doumeki dream shine was all Watanuki needed to know who had appeared. He was suddenly glad for it, sitting down in his usual spot on the porch. “You’re worried for my grandson?” a deep voice asked in a light tone.

Watanuki nodded. He had long since realized that trying to lie in a dream was useless, especially when the one he was lying to was Doumeki’s grandfather. “He was acting really distracted. Like, something else was taking up all his attention. It... just doesn’t seem like him at all.” Doumeki was like a hawk, coldly regarding his prey. The archer had never been distracted to the best of his knowledge and memories. Watanuki was the one always distracted, generally giving Doumeki more chances to steal bites his lunch.

Haruka smoked as he regarded the teenager thoughtfully. “Have you asked the Dimensional Witch about this?” he asked, referring to Yuuko in a polite tone of voice. Watanuki wondered if Haruka had ever met Yuuko during his life.

“No,” Watanuki admitted, shaking his head. He had been too busy brooding. “She did seem to notice something was wrong though. Yuuko-san keep looking at Doumeki, like she was seeing something that I couldn’t.”

Haruka pulled back his cigarette, his usually playful eyes reflecting the serious tone. But he did not rush the conversation. He let the silence drag on for a little longer before breaking it. “Then something distant must be occupying his attention.”

“Something distant?” Watanuki wasn’t quite sure what this meant. Unless that... thing... that had attacked him before had also done something to the archer. “Haruka-san, do you know how to make a certain kind of spirit appear? It looked like a really ugly old lady who could age my body backwards.” The question came out in a rush and Watanuki didn’t even know if it was understandable. His agitation from this afternoon came back as he realized he had to know if something was really wrong.

Doumeki’s grandfather blew out a puff of smoke that dispersed into the air above. Watanuki felt his hands clench together, but he didn’t try asking again. Finally, Haruka answered his question. “During the waning of the moon, write its name on a white ribbon. It’s attracted to things that remind it of young women, perhaps because the creature’s goal is to look beautiful. It believes that by sucking the life out of its victims that it gets younger. Must of thought your spirit power would have taken off quite a few years,” he finished with a smile.

It occurred to Watanuki for the first time that buying the dream of an exorcist had been one of the better things hitsuzen had thrown to him, especially with his condition. This kind of spiritual advice would be free, where as Yuuko would have to demand a price for the information.

“So after I find its name and call it, what can I do?” ‘Without Doumeki’s help’ was what he didn’t say. Truthfully, the thought of that now made him a little uneasy. If Doumeki was the one in trouble though... Watanuki wasn’t sure how much he could do in his six year old body, but he had to try.

“It probably has something Shizuka owned, in order to get to him like this. You’ll have to find whatever it is and break it. However, I don’t think the hag will be your main problem.”

“Eh?”

Watanuki woke up with a start, owlishly blinking at the ceiling. He was on the futon that Yuuko let him use whenever he slept over at the shop, back in the body of a six year old. The outlines of everything in the room were blurred, but he didn’t reach out for his glasses.

The hag wouldn’t be the main problem? Then... who (or what) was causing Doumeki to act like this?

* * *

Watanuki stood on his tip toes on the top step of his now customary stool. His arms were stretched out as far as he could reach. Still, he could not reach the top shelf to dust. It was one of the many things that were most annoying about having the body of a six year old.

Muttering to himself, the child stepped down and moved the stool over to something that he _could_ reach. After five more consecutive sneezes in a row, he gave up on the feather duster with a grunt of disgust.

He was _bored_. Yuuko had gone some off somewhere early that morning, only leaving a note telling him to “be a good boy.” Maru and Moru sleeping today, which for once he wished they weren’t. Even Mokona was no where to be found, probably with Yuuko. So for all intents and purposes, Watanuki was alone in the shop.

But in the body of a six year old, half the chores he usually did to keep busy were impossible. He couldn’t reorganize the treasure room for the same reason; Watanuki couldn’t reach half the items. And there was only so much food he could prepare for Yuuko’s eventual return, whenever that might be. The feeling of uselessness from his lonely childhood came back full force and left him at a loss of things to do. To top it all off, he wasn’t any closer to finding answers about Doumeki.

“Hello?” a light soprano voice called out, followed by a soft chirping. His heart skipped a beat as he rushed out to the front of the store, dismal boredom long forgotten.

“Himawari-chan!” he yelled happily as he sped around the hall way corner. When he saw her standing there smiling sweetly with Tanpopo on her shoulders, he felt like the sun had come out from the clouds to shine down on him alone. “Is school over already? Did I miss much? Would you like to come in for tea?”

Unfortunately, Watanuki realized as he came closer, he had a bit of a dilemma. Since Himawari was so much taller than he was right now, he had to look over her... rather bountiful bust area to see her face. Since he considered his love much more pure than that, it was a little embarrassing. He was glad when she kneeled down again, so they could talk properly. “I’ve got piano lessons, so I can’t stay for tea.” The sun hid itself behind the clouds again and poured down light rain. “I just came by to drop off your school work, since you have to miss class.”

He felt his eyes tear up at the thoughtfulness of her visit. It was just like Himawari to be so considerate. Like always, however, Himawari smiled obliviously while she shot down his hopes. “Did Doumeki-kun drop by?”

The light rain storm turned into a hurricane. Even when he and Himawari were alone, Doumeki had to ruin everything. “Of course he hasn’t. I wouldn’t want to see him if he did, since all he would do is demand that I feed him!”

“So he didn’t come here either.” The sentence stopped him, mid-rant. Chills went down his spine as Himawari handed over his school work with an absentminded look of worry on her face.

“What do you mean, he’s not here either?” he asked, indignation absent from his tone. Instead, a faint tenseness surrounded him as he felt his hands clench the paper work. “Wasn’t he at school today?”

Tanpopo chirped as Himawari shook her head. “I over heard some of the teachers talking. Since he hadn’t called in sick, they called his house. Apparently his parents hadn’t seen him that morning either. They assumed he had left for class early.”

His stomach became a pitfall and his grip on the paper couldn’t be tighter. His words came out in a rush and with a lack of feeling behind them. “The jerk. Probably skipping class and having a good time while other people worry!” See if Watanuki made him any of those outrageous requests again! Completely inconsiderate and totally unlike Doumeki. But Watanuki rallied behind the excuse, because it meant nothing was seriously wrong.

Himawari excused herself politely, seeing Watanuki’s real state of mind for what it was. She promised to let him know if she heard anything else and left him with a worried smile.

Watanuki went back to work, attempting to clean while mourning the loss of Himawari. It wasn’t working well at all. Sure, he was doing a little better dusting, but he couldn’t convince himself that he wasn’t even the slightest bit concerned about his ungrateful rival. Especially since, regardless of Watanuki’s previous statement of his rival being inconsiderate, it wasn’t like Doumeki to just vanish without contacting anyone. The chill in his blood told him the truth. Doumeki was many things, but not the sort of person who would thoughtlessly worry others.

Finally, he threw down the dusting rag in disgust. “Stupid Doumeki. Probably got himself into some sort of trouble,” - that was probably Watanuki’s own fault to begin with - “That the great Watanuki-sama has to help the pitiful Doumeki out of.” He nodded to himself, searching for paper and pen to write Yuuko a note about his own whereabouts.

Yes, it was the perfect excuse. Watanuki put on his shoes nearly humming with satisfaction. No, not excuse. Reason. Perfect reason to visit the Doumeki family temple. It was finally -finally? No, that wasn’t right either. It was once again his turn to outshine his rival and save the day. In fact, he was so gleeful about the whole thing that he had nearly forgotten to bring salt. He ran back to get some of his fail safe before leaving the shop.

* * *

The trip to the shrine was uneventful. There were no unusually large spirits that came after him and those few that did try were easily dispersed with the salt. This only proved to pivot his feelings skyward as proof that he could undeniably handle himself and didn’t need Doumeki (most of the time).

Thankfully, Doumeki had given him permission to just enter his room. Watanuki had only seen his rival’s family (with the exception of a certain member who was currently dead) a few times and he didn’t feel like explaining how he had changed into a six year old, even if they did recognize him. And if they didn’t recognize him, he highly doubted they would have let a six year old go through a high schooler’s room for clues to their son’s disappearance.

Watanuki snuck into Doumeki’s room after he received no reply to a few tentative calls. He slid open the paper door and instantly knew two things. The first was that the normally neat chamber he was used to was a complete mess. The second was that someone else had already been through the room looking for clues. Probably Doumeki’s parents or the police, after having found this mess.

No trace of his rival was found.

His heart fell as he thought over the implications of the mess. It looked like there must have been some sort of fight... Still, Watanuki fell into cleaning mode diligently, going through he mess looking for clues. Since he highly doubted the police could solve this case, he had no qualms destroying the ‘crime scene’ and saving his own sanity from such a horrendous mess.

The cracked mirror in the corner Watanuki consciously avoided looking at. Truthfully, he wasn’t quite sure why seeing a cracked mirror sent chills down his spine. He rather suspected it had something to do with the fact the cracks looked like a spider’s web, however. Just like if someone had punched mirror and it cracked around the point of origin. But that pattern brought up some unpleasant memories... Best to avoid that corner.

It was a good thirty minutes before he came across anything interesting. Underneath one of the blankets that had been thrown carelessly to the floor was a sheet of paper. On it was a poem that he didn’t recognize. Something that Doumeki’s class had been working on? What caught his eye was that several lines toward the end of the poem were underlined and highlighted.

The problem was the poem was in English. There were a lot of words he was unfamiliar with so he couldn’t figure out exactly what it meant. He could pick out a couple words, however. ‘Mirror’ and ‘web’ he knew, though the poetic language the poet used confused him. And the word ‘doom’ was vaguely familiar. Something like death, if he remembered correctly.

Once again, his eyes drifted towards the mirror on the other side of the room. Watanuki shivered, as the autumn cool penetrated to his rival’s room. He had an awfully bad feeling about it. Looking back down, he continued to sift through the mess as he thought. His hand bumped against something smooth and egg like in shape. Curiously, he was just about to pull it out to see when-

“What are you doing here?” A deep voice came from behind him. Watanuki froze. He hadn’t expected to be caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On to the quote of the chapter.
> 
> "Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."  
> \--Georgia O'Keeffe


	4. Mind Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Some fun zany parts coming up. There's a bit of Shizuka torture too, but nothing too bad. The last time I had a scene like that the character was much worse off. Shizuka had it easy. XD  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHolic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic. Also, the poem quoted in this chapter is a real poem that doesn't belong to me. I don't want to give it away here, but do know I don't claim it.  
>  **Author's Thanks:** Many, many thanks to TheOptimisticPessimist for helping me get these chapters out. You guys should thank her too for making this much better. The line about the slow bullet is from her, because I can't resist such an emphatic request from a beta reader.

"He's gone." The deep voice said, giving Watanuki the mental image of a very big, very scary man standing behind him with an evil glint in his shaded eyes.

Watanuki spun around, only to have his heart fail when he saw the owner of the voice. "M-m-m-Mokona!"

The black pork bun bounced in Yuuko's hand, grinning from ear to ear as it laughed. "Scared you! Scared you! Watanuki really is the April fool!"

He was too relieved to feel too angry at the black marshmallow. "How did you make your voice so low like that? And what are you two doing here anyway" he asked as it jumped over to his arms. Yuuko leaned in the door way, her Victorian blue dress sweeping the floor as she walked.

"It's one of Mokona's secret techniques!" It said happily. Watanuki had always thought that Mokona was very small for something made by Yuuko. She was the type to make things completely over the top. But at his current size, Mokona seemed much bigger and it _could_ more than hold it's weight in liquor.

Yuuko answered his other question, putting a hand up to her forehead in a mock fainting motion. "I got home and I was _starving_." Dramatically, she draped herself over a chair to emphasize her hunger. "And my faithful Watanuki wasn't there to welcome me home and wait on my hand and foot."

"I'm not-" Yuuko placed one sensual finger over her mouth. Watanuki felt the heat spread from his ears to his cheeks when he realized how loudly he was talking. Mokona playfully poked his cheek, laughing mischievously. His fists balled as Mokona jumped to his shoulder, though the motion reminded him of his un-moving pinky finger. It served to deflate his anger. Watanuki finally settled on changing the subject. "Where has he gone to?"

Yuuko's face became serious. It was the exact expression Watanuki had been dreading. Something was seriously wrong. "He was taken away, both willingly and unwillingly." Yuuko's eyes stared intently at the section of the mess he had been working on clearing. Though, what she saw there, he couldn't fathom.

"How can he be both?" Watanuki asked, stomach falling. Mokona hugged his neck comfortingly as he waved his childish hand at the mess. "And who did all of this?"

"Doumeki-kun was the only person in the room. He made the mess himself."

"It doesn't make any sense though! Why would he do this? And why..." Watanuki trailed off. Yuuko stood up and crossed the distance between them. Kneeling down next to Watanuki, she gently caressed his young face with her hand. "How can we get him back?" he finished weakly, looking up at Yuuko with child-like faith. Watanuki felt his small body trembling, though he had too many emotions waging war at the moment to tell just which one caused the movement.

Yuuko smiled. Not her scary smile that made Watanuki wish he had never come to her shop in the first place, but the sort of smile that was almost a little sad. "Watanuki is such a good child," she said. He tried protesting, but since he _was_ a child at the moment a protest wouldn't have done a heck of a lot of good. "Take the handkerchief from Doumeki's desk and go back to the shop. I'll be there shortly."

The child was troubled, but he followed her orders and left Yuuko alone in the hurricane ravaged room. She silently sifted through the clothes and books Watanuki had been sorting and pulled out a small egg. "It's not yet your time," she told it, placing it on the desk where it wouldn't be stepped on or noticed by normal people. "But you..." Her hand strayed on the desk, picking up a recently made arrow. "You have another purpose."

She took the arrow with it's head made from the hag's blood and glanced around the room once more. Her work there completed, Yuuko followed after the child who had wished himself into her care.  
  
* * *  
 

Watanuki folded the handkerchief as Yuuko instructed and listened as she chanted out the incantation. He had seen it once before, but it still mystified him with the childish joy of watching real magic. This time, however, the handkerchief didn't turn into a butterfly. It was a bird, one that was made for long ranged flying.

His heart sank, already guessing the truth. "He's quite far from here," Yuuko confirmed. "It won't be easy to get there."

He remembered the clue from earlier and brought it out so Yuuko could see. Watanuki's heart beat sped up, hoping that it might help. "I found this when I was searching for clues earlier. Can you translate it?"

Yuuko glanced over the poem, smiling softly. She recognized the poem at least, which didn't surprise Watanuki. He had been hoping for that. "Tennyson," she replied. Then in perfect English, she spoke the verse that had been highlighted out loud.

_Out flew the web and floated wide;_  
 _The mirror crack'd from side to side;_  
 _"The curse is come upon me," cried_  
 _The Lady of Shalott._

"It's a pretty poem," she said, after translating for Watanuki. She looked very reminiscent of something long gone, an expression Watanuki caught her with only occasionally. "A very tragic love story from Arthurian legends."

Light shined down from the heavens. Watanuki had found a clue! "That's it! The mirror in Doumeki's room was cracked, like the one in the poem! The mirror has to have... some... connection?" Yuuko had been shaking her head in a silent 'no' through out his brilliant idea. "Well, if it's not a clue, why were those lines highlighted!" he asked in frustration, since he finally thought he had been onto something.

Yuuko grinned, this time a smile full of mischievousness. "Homework?" She asked, piling up Watanuki's frustration with failure. He suddenly felt like crying somewhere in a corner where the world wouldn't be able to laugh at him anymore. But no, he still had to save that jerk before anything else came up to remind Watanuki of his failures.

Mugetsu, who had been clinging to him ever since he returned to the shop, rubbed its triangle head against his cheek. Like Mokona, it tried to give him some comfort where it could, but Watanuki still felt his heart racing. The last time he had felt this upset was when... was when he barged into the shop asking Yuuko what to do about Doumeki's eye. "How much will it cost to get there, then?" he asked, eyes shining behind his glasses with a sincere wish.

"No ranting about having to save Doumeki? No whining about how you have to chase after the person you like the least?" Yuuko poked his other cheek, teasing him as she leaned over just so they could be eye level.

He looked away, staring at his child sized feet. "It's my fault, isn't it?" he growled, annoyed at having to make this concession again. "Because I was impatient and got changed like this... right?" Yuuko confirmed his suspicion cheerfully. "I'm not mad... I learned after last time. But I still don't want to just sit here and do nothing. So what do I have to do?" he ended, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a very child-like pout.

"The brave Watanuki will go through unknown dangers to save his friend from the lion's den! Too bad Himawari-chan won't see your heroic deeds," Yuuko said, after showing a real smile. Maru and Moru danced around her cheerfully, repeating the words "Rescue Mission!" over and over again.

That blew the top off the already boiling pot. "What is this, some manga you're just going to read and laugh at?" Wrong question. Yuuko laughed slyly behind her hand with a look that told him 'It is now.' Before Yuuko could say something snide about him being the comic relief, he continued on with his rampage. "Would you guys just cut it out already? What do I have to do?"

"What do you have to do? What do you want, Watanuki?" Yuuko asked in a bored tone, lounging back on the couch. Maru and Moru continued on with their dance, unfazed by the change in their mistress' attitude.

"You know what I mean!" he huffed impatiently, unable to see what Yuuko was playing at. The pipe fox hugged his neck tightly as he waved away its affection.

"You have to say it!" Mokona bounced up, not having to bounce too high before they were eye level. It was grinning broadly, which meant something had to be at Watanuki's expense. "Watanuki wants to save Doumeki!"

He felt his face turn red, equal shares of anger and embarrassment taking their toll on his poor cheeks. "W-why? How come I have to say it? You know what I want to do!"

"Wishes are spoken contracts. You don't want to be ambiguous and get something you didn't wish for," she smiled the sort of smile that Watanuki knew meant trouble. "You have to say it."

Though he highly doubted the truth of this statement, Yuuko was in one of those moods that nothing would get done until he obeyed. Watanuki mumbled something that was barely audible. This prompted a chorus of "What did you say?" and "We can't hear you!" from the peanut gallery. He tried again, this time just above a whisper. The chorus responded by only getting louder.

"I said I want to save that ungrateful jerk, Doumeki!" He was breathing heavy by this point, both hands by his sides, balled up into little fists. The pipe fox squirmed joyfully, nearly tickling him and completely ruining the moment. "Mugetsu, stop that!"

When Mugetsu had finally settled down, Watanuki saw that Yuuko was smiling again. While he hadn't been looking, she had gotten the Tengu fan out and now held it up. "Hey, wait a second! Not right-"

"We'll just put it on your tab, Watanuki-kun. Have a nice trip!" she said simply, as Maru and Moru waved good-bye in unison from behind her. That was the last thing he saw before she brought the fan down and he was blown away.  
  
* * *  
 

Doumeki was systematically looking for a way out of the room he found himself in. It was a well lit room, though he couldn't tell where the light was coming from. Clean too. It almost looked like his bed room at home, though it was bare of any windows or doors to the outside world. All the furniture was in the same places, like his desk and futon. But since this wasn't his room, he felt the need to get out. His grandfather had once told him the first obligation of prisoner is to escape.

Knocking on all the walls had proved they were all solid. Trying to climb them was equally useless and the ceiling was too high to reach. Sitting down cross-legged on the futon that had been laid out for him, Doumeki contemplated his next course of action.

How he got there was a question he simply didn't bother with. He had woken up in this room and hadn't the foggiest idea of how he got in it. No point in dwelling on it. There was nothing in the room that could possibly help him escape either. So the only logical thing he could do was sit and wait. Whoever had put him here had to show themselves eventually.

He had no sooner decided to start meditating when he heard a voice from behind him. What was curious was that the lights seemed to dim slightly. "Do you always keep this place so bare? Spartan ideals or no, this is just ridiculous."

Doumeki turned quickly, surprised at the familiar voice. He was even more surprised to see it was Watanuki. The seer hadn't been there the last time he had scanned the room. Not to mention Watanuki was back in his normal body and wearing some weird outfit. It was a black Chinese cut shirt with brightly colored red butterflies adorning the cloth. Almost something more like what Yuuko would wear. "Oi."

"My name isn't 'oi.'" came the eerily calm reply.

"How did you get here?"

"The same way you did." Watanuki waved the question off. He sat down in a chair that Doumeki also hadn't seen on his initial (and very thorough) inspection of the room. Again, the lights seemed almost unnoticeably dimmer.

He watched as Watanuki leaned back in the chair, calmly regarding him in a way that just seemed off. And it came to Doumeki that realization was a slow and painful bullet.

"You aren't Watanuki." The fake Watanuki smiled back calmly, with the same cat-like slyness the real Watanuki occasionally had. It made Doumeki second guess himself, but wouldn't-

"You're right. I am not the person who usually wears this face." The fake Watanuki paused, waiting for Doumeki to respond. For his part however, the archer simply regarded the fake with suspicion.

Watanuki laughed. There was a disturbing cruelness to the sound that put Doumeki even more on his guard. The fake's eyes, one blue and one gold, held an unnatural amusement in them. "How does anyone put up with you like that? You really are a poor audience."

"Who are you?"

Again, Watanuki looked amused. "I'd say a figment of your imagination, but with scenery like this-" he motioned to the door-less room with cat like grace, "-I highly doubt you have much to begin with."

Doumeki held his anger in check and continued to glare at the new comer. "Who are you?" he asked again, not letting the subject drop.

"Persistent, aren't you?"

"Who-"

"A simple scavenger, if you will. You can call me Crowe if you like. Knowlton Crowe." The fake Watanuki stood up and walked over, smiling cat-like all the way. "I ran across an old hag the other day. After I absorbed her, I found she had already absorbed part of this young man's life. Originally, I just wanted her since she was already nearly dead, but upon finding such a... treasure map, I thought I'd dig for x."

As he said this, Wata- no, Crowe- pulled out a long piece of cloth. He unfolded it to reveal Doumeki's missing arrow. The room got a little brighter, but for some reason the archer felt a little out of breath. "It's quite hard to hold, you see. Very useful, regardless. The left over residue from your energy combined with this face made it only a matter of time before I was able to enter this place and trap you here."

Doumeki let the information sink in as the fake Watanuki re-covered the arrow, careful not to actually touch it. If this person with Watanuki's face was to be believed, the problem of killing the hag was taken care of. Since the other task Yuuko had set for him was mostly completed (though he had been unable to give it to her), Watanuki could be changed back to normal. Killing this person who still had the missing parts of Watanuki might also be necessary, but now he didn't have to go out looking for the spirit. It was trapped in here too, just as he was.

Above all else, he knew was that getting back the arrow was imperative. But the cloth with the arrow disappeared into the air as the fake Watanuki took a few steps closer. This time, Doumeki was sure that the lights were getting dimmer. He also felt his stomach twisting the closer Crowe came. Fighting the urge to double over in pain, the briefly wondered if this was how Watanuki felt while surrounded by malicious spirits.

"You don't like me very much, do you?" Crowe asked, taking a seat on the floor directly across from Doumeki. "Your purifying light keeps trying to reject me. You shouldn't resist anymore. It's already over and it will hurt you much less if you just come along quietly like good bait."

Bait. Doumeki was breathing heavily by this point. The light was getting stronger again, but he felt like he had just run a marathon. Beads of sweat trickled down his face at a painstakingly slow pace. Bait for who? "Where..." was all Doumeki could gasp out as Watanuki leaned in, their noses almost touching.

"Where are we?" Crowe finished for him. He was smiling now with a very un-Watanuki-like expression. It was a cruel smile of one who enjoyed suffering. The lights got stronger as he felt anger rise up at the monster who defiled his friend's features with such an expression.

Watanuki jumped back, shielding his eyes. The moment was short lived, however. He began to chuckle and tisked a few times. "I told you, this is already over." The fake reached out and grabbed Doumeki's neck, pulling him off the ground with inhuman strength as Crowe stood up.

Pain engulfed him.

The fingers around his neck seared through his skin. The heat sped through his body, like an electrical current burning him from the inside out. He could barely hear a scream echo through the room and the breath that had been so short in coming before was now non-existent.

As suddenly as it all started, Doumeki found that he could pull air though his painfully raw throat. The searing pain and screaming was gone, replaced by his own coughing and gasping for sustenance for his lungs. Had he been the one screaming?

As he became aware of his surroundings again, Doumeki realized he was now against one of the walls. The lights were at half power, but the wall was cool to his touch. It was comforting and solid behind his back.

The fake Watanuki was still there, waving his hand around like he had just touched something hot. He also looked worse for the wear after the encounter. "Damn light..." Crow smiled as he saw that the archer had come around, but kept his distance this time. "It's going to be a lot more painful than I thought to finish you off," he announced with forced cheer. "I'm not sure if it's worth it in the end to eat you. Maybe I should just kill you off and be done with it. But right now, I still need you as bait for that other precious treasure to come seek me out. Can't have the hostage die too early."

Doumeki evened out his breathing using meditation techniques, though his raw throat objected to every breath he took. If he was going to get out of here, he had to be calm. He had to think, not just react.

Crowe was distracted for a moment. He tried to gather his energy together to attack the fake, but his attention was turned back to the archer before he could move. "Ah, it seems like the treasure has finally arrived. If you'll excuse me now, I have some traps to attend to. I'll just leave you here for now, in the prison of your own mind." With that closing statement, the atrocity that wore Watanuki's face disappeared.

It was much easier to breathe once the fake was gone and the lights also regained a little of their lost luminosity. So this was his mind? The thought calmed him, even though he was still trapped there. The lights must be his own mental projection of his latent powers.

What disturbed him was the thought that he was being used as bait to lure someone else here. Though, with his grandfather dead, Doumeki couldn't think of anyone who would...

He was on his feet and pounding against the wall, even though the motion made him dizzy with fatigue. He head to get out of here. Now. Because Watanuki was a self sacrificing idiot who probably would willingly walk into a trap if he thought it was his fault.

"It's a stupid thing to do," he muttered to himself, letting some of his anger out on the wall. The lights were still far too dim, much too his own frustration. Sometimes he didn't know who was worse, Watanuki or himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quote of the chapter.
> 
> "The first obligation of a prisoner is to escape."  
> "Ah. So if one is a prisoner of love, one must escape to solitude? If one is a prisoner to joy, must one escape to sadness?"  
> -Captain Sherridan and Lorien, Babylon 5


	5. Crow's Nest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Watanuki gets beat up quite a bit in this chapter. Though, since my beta enjoyed it, I'm not sure if I should really mention it in warning... Also, I apologize before hand for the Samurai armor. But more on that at the end of the chapter...  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHolic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic. Also, "The Lady of Shalott" is not mine... Though it is a beautiful poem. Look it up if you haven't read it already.

“You’d think I could just find the jerk and get this over with! But no! I’m at the bottom of a building with no openings, no supplies and no clues of how to get in!”

The pipe fox nuzzled Watanuki’s cheek, but he was on a roll. He wasn’t about to be comforted now when his ranting was what made him able to keep trying. “We’ve been around the building five times now. Five times! And not a single entrance!”

The building in question looked ridiculous, standing over twenty stories high in the middle of a dark jungle. Nothing else was around it either, just this one building with reflective glass. Maybe it was just him. After all, who _wouldn’t_ build a sky scraper in the middle of a forest?

The jungle gave Watanuki the creeps. Like it or not, he wouldn’t dare venture too far into without some kind of protection against what he could feel lying out there. He didn’t sense anything bad from the forest... but nothing particularly good either. What was it Yuuko had said? Human morality couldn’t be placed on creatures of nature.

Rundown and un-cared for, the building had many vines creeping up its sides. Watanuki could smell the evil intent that penetrated even from the outside. There were, however, no open windows or doors of any kind that Watanuki could reach. There were a few open windows, but they were above the tree tops and out of his reach. All that surrounded the base of the building were vines, vines, and more impossible to climb vines and a shiny reflective surface underneath.

The pipe fox couldn’t jump to the open windows. Watanuki had even tried (fruitlessly) climbing several trees in attempt to reach, but most of those efforts ended with him landing back on the ground with a rather painful thud. Between that and trying to climb the vines (which snapped and grew back before he could get too high), he had been trying to get in for four hours now.

It didn’t matter how many times he tried to get all the leaves and twigs out of his hair; there was always some small bit that he had missed. It was a fact that didn’t help his temper any. He didn’t even bother with the scrapes and scratches on his hands and knees since he didn’t have bandages.

So here he was, making a sixth round about the building, counting the number of reflective panels behind the vines. One of the first things he had tried upon arriving had been beating on one such panel, but no luck had come of that either.

Still, the rhyme of the poem Yuuko had repeated for him ran through his head. It _couldn’t_ have just been Doumeki’s homework, not with the building lined with reflective surfaces. How did it go again?

Yuuko’s voice rang through his ears as the translation came to memory. ‘The mirror cracked from side to side...’ He could see no looms or webs, but there were plenty of ‘mirrors’ around, so he focused on that part. Unfortunately, none of them were cracked either.

The pipe fox squeaked, tightening its grip on Watanuki’s neck in a reassuring way. Slightly choking, but still oddly reassuring. Realizing he needed to stay calm, Watanuki pet the small triangle that he assumed was Mugetsu’s head. It was so hard to tell when Mugetsu was in it’s small form.... “You’re right. This isn’t getting me anywhere.”

The problem was finding a method that _did_ get him somewhere. Walking up to the reflective surface, Watanuki studied the child who peered back at him through the vines. Doumeki’s golden eye glared back at him from behind a pair of glasses as if berating him for the pathetic look on his face. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts as several more twigs and leaves fell out. Why did those trees he climbed have to be so damned leafy?

Watanuki reached in-between the vines and out to a pane of glass with a small, child-like hand, ignoring the scratches on his palm. The coolness of the window didn’t reflect any of the foliage of the jungle. Not even the vines scaling the building where in the reflection, only Watanuki. “Why didn’t I notice that before?” he asked rhetorically in a soft voice.

Going on intuition, he started walking along the side of the building (sixth time, mind you), this time his fingers never leaving the reflective surface except when a vine got in the way. Watanuki made his way very slowly, tripping occasionally on the roots of the vine since his eyes were on the panels and not his feet. Mugetsu would squeak encouragingly when this happened and he would continue on.

One scrapped knee and several bruises later, Watanuki came to the panel he had first knocked on so wildly before when he had first arrived. The glass panel directly beyond that one was the one that gave him a shock however. The wall suddenly gave way, as if it hadn’t existed in the first place. Half of his arm disappeared in the mirror before he finally regained his balance after the lack of resistance.

The vines where the only thing that had kept him from falling in completely. Much to his own embarrassment, Watanuki’s terrified yell sounded more like a squeak. He pulled his hand back quickly, checking it over before glaring back at his small face in the reflective panel. It didn’t take him too long to realize how much time would have been saved if he had only knocked one panel over in the first place.

Mugetsu rubbed his cheek happily as Watanuki started pulling back the vines from the glass panel. He grumbled about the building being just as annoying as a certain archer, but shivered whenever he accidentally touched the glass in the process. The panel acted just like water, rippling away from any area that he touched, though he couldn’t feel anything when he touched it. An illusion?

The vines weren’t cooperating either. Watanuki yelled. Watanuki screamed. Watanuki pounded. The bloody vines grew back almost as soon as he could clear them! In the end, he could only clear a small space near the top of the panel that was large enough for him to crawl through. For once, he was glad of his current small size.

Watanuki stood there panting for a few seconds. He wiped away the sweat that had gathered on his brow and steeled himself for the next course of action. Scrambling up the vines as far as he dared without breaking them, the child closed his eyes and pushed himself through the panel.

Which was why he unceremoniously tumbled to the ground when he reached the other side. “Ow...” Watanuki rubbed his head and neck where the impact had the most effect. His glasses had fallen off in the transition and he looked around frantically for them.

A canine whine brought his attention to the now full bodied pipe fox. Mugetsu had his glasses in its mouth, which it dropped into Watanuki’s waiting hands. “Thanks, Mugetsu,” he said, as he placed them back on the ridge of his nose. The child put a hand on Mugetsu’s shoulder, both to steady and reassure himself.

Mugetsu was much bigger than Watanuki had remembered. Of course, he was also a little smaller than last time. Its nine tails swished gently from side to side as it helped the child stand.

The smell that penetrated through the building caused Watanuki to stay close to the pipe fox. The air was cleaner the closer he was to the pipe fox, which he assumed was due to its immense spiritual power. Since Mugetsu didn’t mind at all that its favorite human wanted to stay nearer to it, Watanuki didn’t remove his hand from its shoulder.

Once again, reflective panels covered the walls. This time, they surrounded him with a dizzying effect. It made him a little self conscious to see a wide eyed and dirty child staring at him from all directions.

“Welcome,” a high tenor voice said to his left. Watanuki turned to the sound, his free hand covering his mouth and nose from the stench. Mugetsu growled beside him, teeth bared at the stranger.

Before him was a man of mismatched and patched clothes. One side of his pants was white, the other side black. Entire sections of the man’s unbuttoned off-white shirt was missing and patched with an assortment of colors. The trousers were strapped to the man’s lanky frame by a pair of black suspenders. Curious of all was the man’s brown hair that was a literal crow’s nest. The front part stuck straight up and the rest of the long locks scattered every which way at his shoulders. Watanuki shuddered at the pure un-tidiness of it all. “Welcome to my home. It was quite amusing watching how you tried to get in.”

“Who are you?” Watanuki asked, glad that the hand covering his mouth also hid his blush. Someone had been watching his attempts... The pipe fox’s growls became louder and he went back on his guard. If this was the man’s home as he claimed, then this was the person that had taken Doumeki.

“I’m a collector of sorts. Call me Crowe if you like. I say, you wouldn’t happen to be able to make that animal go away, would you? My kind and his have never gotten along...” The man glared as Mugetsu barked its own feelings of animosity. He could feel that the pipe fox was smug about something, though he didn’t know what.

Watanuki shook his head to answer the inquiry, gaining courage from Mugetsu’s defiance. “Where is Doumeki?”

“Ah, that persistent one,” the man said thoughtfully. “He’s at the top of my nest, with the rest of my valuables. Would you like me to take you to him? You’re quite the catch yourself and I wouldn’t mind adding you to my collection.”

Mugetsu stepped in front of Watanuki, barring passage. The boy could barely see the oddly dressed man over the fox’s body. “I’ll take that as a no then. There’s some fun waiting for you if you find your own way up, anyway. Well, I’ve got other collectibles to attend to. Do be careful.”

“Wait!” Watanuki stood on his tip toes to see over the fox’s back as he yelled. He was just barely able to see the man bow mockingly before disappearing.

Anger boiled up, ready to burst. “Get back here!” he yelled, running around Mugetsu to the spot the man had been standing. He hit something, causing him to fall backwards as the nauseating smell reminded him of why he stayed close to the fox.

Clink, clink. He looked up, rubbing his bruised nose to find the last thing Watanuki had expected. A haunted suit of samurai armor standing over him with two swords drawn. A breathless scream escaped his lips as his arms flew up to protect his face.

Mugetsu was in front of him again, biting down on the armor’s leather hand. The fox tore one of the swords away from the possessed armor, taking the glove with it. Mugetsu held the sword by the hilt in its mouth and growled threateningly as two more suits of armor joined the first.

A collector, Crowe said. He could have mentioned that one of the things he collected homicidal spirits that resided in suits of armor! It would have been nice to know.

Watanuki moved closer to Mugetsu. Fear coursed through his small body as he saw the ghostly warriors. Mugetsu leapt at one of the armors, slashing with the sword in its mouth. The child saw how they were multiplying, but the pipe fox was too busy defending to be able to get safely get away. Watanuki had to find a way out and fast.

He gathered his courage and ran to one of the walls, pounding on the mirror panels. Nothing. He moved on to the next panel only to narrowly avoid a graceful arc of a katana. Mugetsu was between him and the armor before it could take another swing, however.

Scrambling to his feet, Watanuki kept moving to the next panel and the next, checking for any way out to avoid the clamor of the armors. They were quickly running out of panel, however, and Watanuki realized all he had done was back them into a corner. The dizzying effect of the mirrors were canceled out as the room filled with the possessed armors.

As Mugetsu slashed at one warrior, another’s sword nicked Watanuki in the leg. He cried out in pain, falling backwards. Instead of a solid reflective panel, he fell through the wall. Shocked by the discovery, Watanuki was even more surprised to find that there was a door on this side of the panel. “Mugetsu, though here!” He called out, wincing in pain as he stood, but preparing to shut the large metal door on their attackers.

The pipe fox jumped through and Watanuki closed the large door quickly. He had to put all his body weight behind it in order to close the door. Once it was shut, the child leaned up against it and sunk to the floor. Mugetsu whined softly, nudging his shoulder. It had somehow lost the sword it had been fighting with. “I know, we should get going...”

As he slowly caught his breath in the foul atmosphere, he realized that they were in a stair well. Watanuki slowly got to his feet again and started climbing. His leg stung, but he tried to ignore the pain the best he could. Mugetsu followed the child a few steps behind, making sure that Watanuki didn’t fall.

Unfortunately, Watanuki’s small legs made hard work of the task. Combined with the polluted air, the child was out of breath again by the third flight. He was forced to pause on the fourth flight, needing a break. Mugetsu was impatient to move on, but Watanuki couldn’t keep up with its pace. Sitting on one of the steps, the child looked downward with his head resting against one of Mugetsu’s legs.

His breaths came out hard and raspy. Watanuki closed his eyes, nearly swooning as the intrepid air tried to suffocate him. Without Doumeki here, could he survive the climb? When he went after Zashiki-Warashi, it had only been one flight of stairs. But this building had looked to be about twenty...

No. Yuuko wouldn’t have sent him here if he had no chance. Watanuki had to believe that, if anything. His wish had been to save Doumeki, so even if the worst happened... Well, he had learned that the worst wasn’t okay to let happen. But he trusted Yuuko. If she sent him with only the pipe fox, they should be able to manage somehow. Provided Watanuki didn’t screw things up, per usual.

He blinked wearily at the darkness in front of him. Something felt wrong. Did one of the steps just disappear? He got up and started to check it out, but Mugetsu bit on to the back of his shirt and held him back. Just in time, as the step in front of him disappeared into the darkness.

Watanuki didn’t need to be told twice. He started running up the steps, the pipe fox close behind him. It only took two flights this time before he was completely out of breath. To add to it, he had a cramp in his side that pierced through him. It was like someone put a candle to his abdomen and held it there.

The boy tripped over one of the steps, falling face forward. The steps at Watanuki’s feet disappeared as he scrambled to get back up. Mugetsu’s teeth sank into the back of his shirt again and the next thing Watanuki knew was that he was on the pipe fox’s back.

Mugetsu took off, bounding up the steps as Watanuki reflexively grabbed on for dear life. He could smell a mixture of alcohol and sakura petals from the pipe fox’s fur, which had a calming effect on his nerves and stomach. The sad thing was that he was more surprised about the scent of flowers than the scent of alcohol. Must be impossible to escape it in that shop.

His thoughts were interrupted as something cold and clammy moved over him. He cried out as whatever it was pricked his arms like thousands of little needles. He tightened his grip on the pipe fox and buried his face into Mugetsu’s fur. The spirit kept Mugetsu’s pace, never letting go of Watanuki.

The pipe fox stopped suddenly, though Watanuki didn’t so much as feel the stop as he noticed a lack of moment. He looked up and saw that the steps ahead of them were also disappearing. And that wasn’t their only problem. There was a big blob of a spirit with one eye that had it’s mouth wide open. It had been it’s teeth that Watanuki had felt on his arms, which now had blood trickling down them from all sides.

Fox fire soon engulfed the monster and Watanuki looked around frantically for an exit. A door was just below them, hanging open like an invitation. Light spilled forth from the door, lighting up the dark stairwell. “Mugetsu! Down there!”

The fox was already moving, but the steps had already disappeared by the door. Putting his head back down on Mugetsu’s back, he felt the fox leap from the final step. The sensation of falling was far from pleasant and Watanuki cried out as he held on to Mugetsu desperately.

Mugetsu cleared the doorway without a scratch. The fox took a few steps forward before turning back to nuzzle the still clinging Watanuki. “Ah! Sorry,” he said as he quickly got off from Mugetsu’s back. “Thank you for saving me.”

The child looked around, noticing that the miasma was much clearer up here. Still, he stayed close to Mugetsu. The room was scary enough to a person of his sensibilities that looking around just made him dizzy again.

The space looked like many mountains of trash with semi-valuable items strewn about even more haplessly than Yuuko’s treasure room. In his head, Watanuki tallied up the number of days it would take to even make a dent in the mess. He could already feel a headache coming on. Just looking at the mess should have been enough to send any sensible person into fits!

All thoughts of cleaning left Watanuki’s head when he saw who was standing in the center of the large room. Sitting on one of the large piles was the mismatched man, and sitting directly below him on the ground was Doumeki Shizuka, still in his school uniform.

“Doumeki!” Watanuki’s childish voice rang out through the large room, bouncing off the walls and echoing. The acoustics of the room were frighting. But Doumeki didn’t stir from his cross-legged meditation by the man’s feet. A bow lay by his right knee, unused.

Crowe smiled and walked over to the child. “He won’t hear you. I have him trapped in his own mind. How do you like my treasure trove, by the way?”

Watanuki glared, ignoring the mismatched man’s nonchalant jibs and made a dash for his rival, but Crowe was quicker. The child cried out in surprise and pain as a crow’s claw dug deep into his shoulder, holding him back.

Fox fire sprung up between him and Crowe. The mismatched man cursed as Watanuki fell back a few paces, holding his left arm in pain. The line of fire reflected on his glasses as they fell forward on his nose.

Crowe jumped back, his hand turning back into a normal hand. “Yes, foxes and crows haven’t gotten along since that incident with the cheese. They are far too tricky for our tastes.” Cheese? Watanuki didn’t get the reference, though Mugetsu seemed pleased.

Watanuki could feel the torn clothe from the claws and the indentations on his shoulder. He brought his hand back and found that it was covered in blood. Truthfully, he couldn’t tell if it was recent blood or from his earlier aching injuries. The cut was a little more than a deep scratch but it was very painful. The other cuts and bruises dulled in comparison. Mugetsu came to stand by him, whining softly.

Pushing up his glasses carefully, so as to not get the blood that was on his hand on his glasses, Watanuki glared defiantly at the man. Crowe chuckled softly, not imitated by a six year old. “Let Doumeki go!” he yelled, glad that his voice had a more adult tone when it was steady.

“Can’t do that. Sorry. But if you continue to decline my invitation, I’ll have to do something nasty.” Mugetsu growled next to Watanuki, nine tails flashing back and forth. “Oh, don’t worry, foxy. I don’t mean to try it personally again. See how you like this attack.” Crowe snapped his fingers and Doumeki’s eyes opened.

“Doume-” the spiritual arrow was loosed from the archer’s bow before Watanuki could blink. It grazed his cheek and dissipated as it hit the wall behind him. His already bloody hand went up to his cheek in shock. He could feel the blood trickled down his face like a tear. That woke him up from his thoughts. “HEY! Doumeki! You’re shooting the wrong person!” he yelled angrily, forgetting about the danger of the situation in his fury.

“I think not,” Crowe said, smiling wickedly. He twirled a real arrow in his hand that looked just like the Doumeki used. “I told you, he can’t hear you. The one you know as ‘Doumeki’ is long gone. All that’s left is the empty shell that’s under my control.”

A... shell? No, that couldn’t be right! That jerk wouldn’t go down so easily! Right? Watanuki’s throat tightened as the crow man draped his arm over Doumeki’s shoulder and grinned. “I told you, this treasure is mine. And soon, you will join him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Memory: The last spoken phrase in this chapter won't match up with the first line in next chapter of Tsubasa side. -_-;;; It's the line right before this time. I was going through and editing and I added the "And soon, you will join him," without thinking. It was just such a good bad guy line, I couldn't take it out again. Either way, the Tsubasa chapter starts with the line about the treasure.
> 
> About the samurai armor... I'll admit, that was a moment of weakness for me. Originally, that scene had nothing to do with samurai. It was just Watanuki getting lost in the room with mirrors until Mugetsu pushed him into the stairwell.
> 
> But when I was typing the fic up from my original draft, I also happened to be watching my Ronin Warrior dvds that I had just bought with my fox plushie named Mugetsu in my lap. There's a part where the white tiger, Byakuen (White Blaze), takes one of the bad guy's weapons and totally kicks ass with it. I looked down Mugetsu in my lap and said, "Wouldn't it be cool if you could do that too?"
> 
> Flash of brilliance. Considering I had already compared Mugetsu to Byakuen in my mind when I was originally writing this (the picture of Watanuki riding Mugetsu reminded me so much of Jun on Byakuen) I had to add the samurai armor to let Mugetsu show off. Besides which, it makes the climax much more epic later on...
> 
> On to the quote of the chapter. It really has nothing to do with anything, but I'm in a Ronin Warrior mood. Ah, spreading the love of bad dubs...
> 
> "You could turn into a pack of rabid barracudas, but I ain't lettin' you go!"  
> -Kento, Ronin Warriors


	6. The Arrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Lots of action. Aka, Haruka-san kicks butt. But isn't he dead, you say? Yes, well, read on.  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHolic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic. Also, "The Lady of Shalott" is not mine... Though it is a beautiful poem. Look it up if you haven't read it already.

“Why?” Watanuki took a step back, feeling his eyes widen in shock. It was impossible. Doumeki had a pure soul, right? Besides, Doumeki was too bloody dense to pierce through and take control of his mind! More than any of those thoughts, however, one pounded through his skull more than any other.

Why did he feel so hurt and betrayed?

“Why did I do all of this?” Crowe asked as Watanuki’s hand feel from his cheek. “Certainly not for him. He really is too pure to be of any real use. But if I had him here, I knew I could draw out the rest of the delicious appetizer I got from that old hag. Besides, it was amusing and rather easy. Between the arrow I found to link me to his power and your face, it was a snap to trap this human in his own mind.”

Watanuki felt his chest restrict first with guilt, then with horror as he watched the crow man’s features melt and refashion itself until Crowe’s face mirrored his own. It rippled back to the mismatched man’s normal face after a few seconds, but it was creepy enough. “You... You brought him here to get at me?”

The man smiled his fake grin, not acknowledging the question out right. Watanuki knew the answer. His nails started to dig into the palms of his hands. “Mugetsu,” he said softly, so that his voice wouldn’t carry to Crowe’s ears. The fox’s ears leaned forward to show that it was listening. “I need you to distract Doumeki so that I can get closer. Can you do that?” A soft bark of an affirmative. “Thank you.”

The plan was only half way formed in his mind, but he knew that he needed to get closer. Watanuki placed his hand on Mugetsu’s flank once more for comfort.

He took off to the side of one of the trash mountains as fast as his small legs would carry him. An arrow of Doumeki’s energy flared just behind him. Another arrow breezed passed him seconds later, but now Mugetsu was creating a wall of fox fire between the archer and his prey.

Crow tried taking another shot at the child, but fox fire built another wall as Watanuki kept running. He could barely hear the man say “Che,” over the roar of the magical flames.

Watanuki tripped over some piece of junk (was that an old shoe? Disgusting) but managed to correct his balance before he hit the floor. He bit his lip as sharp pain of an arrow hit his already damaged left arm. Not sparing a moment to look and see how bad it was, Watanuki continued running.

He was forced to the side by another arrow. Watanuki hide behind one of the smaller mountains of rubbish to keep out of the line of fire. Pushing aside a china doll and pocket watch, Watanuki carefully peered out to assess the situation.

The mismatched man was no where in sight, but Mugetsu was battling furiously with a large crow that flew over head. Watanuki had to force himself to stay put as the crow made a dive for Mugetsu’s eyes. He had to trust the pipe fox would be okay.

Watanuki’s newest wound was only a deep graze. Added to his other shoulder injury, his whole arm now ached. The other scrapes and bruises he had gotten were nothing compared to this pain.

An arrow whizzed by his ear, reminding Watanuki of the main threat he had to worry about. The child ducked down and took a deep breath to calm his heart. Thus prepared, Watanuki darted to the next pile of junk ten meters to the right.

Mugetsu’s yelp of pain caused him to turn around, but an arrow brushed past his nose as he did so. Doumeki was still too far away! He’d never reach him in time if he was going to help Mugetsu.

There! Among the nearest pile of junk, Watanuki found something he could use. Diving as he grabbed the object in question, he made sure he was hidden before checking his surroundings.

The boy carefully checked all four wheels of the skate board before he tried standing on it. Nearly lost his balance too, as it started to move forward without his consent.

The triumphant caw of the crow steeled Watanuki’s nerves. He closed his eyes and pushed off the ground with one leg. He was making a beeline for the archer. It wasn’t nearly as hard as he thought it would be... He pushed off the ground again and adjusted his weight so he wouldn’t fall.

Watanuki grinned in pleasure. Not only was he covering much better distance, but this was actually pretty fun! Maybe he should try skate boarding when he-

His thoughts cut off abruptly as he saw Doumeki aiming right at him. “H-hey! How do I turn this thing?” he yelled to no one in particular. He tipped dangerously to the left as he tried in vain to get the skate board to turn. It was no longer fun.

He ducked just as the archer loosed the spirit arrow. It flew over his head harmlessly, but the skateboard was now dangerously over balanced. Watanuki cried out as it tipped over and he landed on his bad arm.

The skate board fell uselessly off to the side as one of the wheels rolled off. Watanuki pushed himself up with his good arm, drawing blood from his lip as he tried to keep from screaming again. The pain raced up his left arm and he had to remind himself the cuts weren’t nearly as bad as they felt.

The copper taste in Watanuki’s mouth chilled with fear when he saw the archer looming over him with his bow drawn. “D-Doumeki...” he stammered out, trying to move backwards. He had wanted to get closer, but this was apparently too close. His back hit one of the junk heaps after a meter, his heart pounding as Doumeki took aim.

The room became silent as they stared at each other. Truthfully, he hadn’t thought about what he would do after he got to Doumeki. In movies, this was when the controlled party would be unable to shoot and partially wake up from the mind trick being played. Nothing in Doumeki’s eyes looked like he was conscious however.

Watanuki’s mouth was dry. His eyes lingered on the arrow’s tip as he tried to swallow. At this range, it would be impossible to dodge. “Come on, you jerk,” he said hoarsely, his childish voice ringing through the room. “D-don’t shoot.”

“I told you, he can’t hear you.” Crowe said, suddenly right next to Watanuki. The child jumped back in surprise. The mismatched man’s arm was dangling by his side, useless because of a deep wound. There was also a long scratch over his right eye that continued to bled, but the man still smiled at Watanuki’s shock.

If he was here then... “Mugetsu!” he cried out, looking around frantically. The pipe fox appeared at his left side, relatively unharmed but with a slight limp. It nuzzled his good cheek with encouragement. Watanuki hugged the fox around the neck, grateful that it wasn’t to badly hurt.

“Pesky creature, that one,” Crowe said testily. But he was paying more attention to the archer. “Well, what’s with you? Shoot!”

Doumeki was as still as a statue. Hope filled Watanuki’s chest the longer the archer didn’t move. The hope was replaced just as quickly by anger. “Hey! You’re supposed to show that you’re hesitating, not just stand there and scare me half to death!”

The mismatched man sighed in defeat. Watanuki scrambled to his feet and stood next to Mugetsu, anger at the crow man and annoyance at Doumeki fueling his body with more energy. Crowe shook his head and tsked softly. “You really should have come in another week or so. It seems he still has enough power to refuse shooting you.”

He was suddenly very glad that Yuuko had sent him right then and there, instead of waiting like he had wanted. One thing he noticed about the spirit world was that time always moved faster there. Not that he would thank her for it, but any longer and Doumeki might have...

“Ah, well. He’s still got a bit of use left in him. Catch.”

“Wait!” he cried out as Crowe threw a dagger straight at Doumeki. He started to run forward, but Mugetsu held him back. The archer caught the blade easily, and Watanuki was almost annoyed at how relieved he felt. It was too short lived for him to dwell on it for long, however. Doumeki put the dagger up to his own throat. “What are you doing, idiot!”

“You must understand. I abhor shedding blood myself,” Crowe said as he walked up to Doumeki’s side. In his good hand, he held a real arrow and twirled it absentmindedly. “Now, why don’t you be a good little boy and come along quietly. I might even let this boy and the fox live if you do.”

He felt, rather than heard the low growling emanating from Mugetsu’s throat. Watanuki’s eyes never left the spinning arrow. It made him feel dizzy and a little light headed. “Well, boy? What do you say? Do hurry up with your choice, since that knife does look sharp.”

“You promise they won’t get hurt?” he heard his own voice say as blood started to trickle down Doumeki’s neck. Mugetsu barked in protest. “No, Mugetsu. It’s alright this time.” He turned back to the mismatched man, staring defiantly at him. “You promise?”

“I give you my solemn pledge that they will be left unharmed. Well, as long as they both go quietly.”

That didn’t sound very promising. He knew neither Doumeki or Mugetsu would ‘go quietly.’ But if this worked... “Alright.”

Watanuki took a step forward, but the pipe fox pushed itself in the way. “Mugetsu!” It whined softly as it stepped back. “I’m sorry for yelling. Just let me do this, okay?” he pleaded gently, hoping it would believe in the changes that had taken place in Watanuki since the last time he had offered such an exchange.

It stepped aside slowly, head bowed. “Now, that’s a good little beastie. Keep that fire of yours to yourself.” Watanuki glared up at Crowe for talking to Mugetsu like that, but closed the distance between him and the mismatched man. He held his left arm so that he looked more hurt than he felt. Greed filled the man’s eyes as he reached out to touch Watanuki.

At the last second, Watanuki ducked under the man’s arm and grabbed hold of the arrow. Crowe was startled but didn’t let go. He tried to pull it free of the now claw like grasp. When that didn’t work, he started kicking and screaming. “Mugetsu! Help! Doumeki, you idiot! Wake up right now or I’ll never make you another lunch again, no matter what!”

The mismatched man had much more strength than a little boy. He easily threw Watanuki up against one piles of junk. He let go of the arrow in favor of trying to keep himself from being crushed as the trash toppled down from the force of the impact. Mugetsu pulled him out of the landslide’s way just in time.

“You little brat! He dies for-” Crowe cut off quickly. Watanuki looked up, surprised to see Doumeki with the dagger now at the other man’s throat. “No, I still have the arrow! How...”

Doumeki smiled. It was an expression so unlike Doumeki’s usual dead pan face. Even the occasional smirk when he had when he thought no one was watching was much different. Watanuki’s brain nearly over loaded. This wasn’t Doumeki’s smile. It was...

“Yes, that arrow does control my grandson. But I’m afraid it doesn’t work on the possessing spirit of an old man.” Doumeki said, with a slightly teasing tone. He moved the dagger closer to Crowe’s neck as the man tried to struggle. “Give back what you’ve taken. It’s your only chance to get out of this alive.”

“Haruka-san?”

Crowe changed into his bird form, rippling in a sickening way. He slipped out of Doumeki’s grasp and flew off with the arrow still in toe. The bird landed a top one of the higher piles of random memorabilia and cawed angrily from it’s position. The armored warriors from the first floor answered its call. They materialized endlessly from the piles of trash, surrounding them easily.

Doumeki helped the child to his feet and ruffled his hair fondly. “Careful now. When you touched the arrow earlier, I was able to get in. But Shizuka will be hurt if I stay in this body for too long. You’ve got to get that arrow back.”

Watanuki nodded, moving closer to Doumeki as he hugged Mugetsu in an nonverbal apology for making it worry. Haruka threw the dagger at one of the samurai armors before stringing Doumeki’s bow with an energy arrow. The archer started taking down the possessed armors with arrows.

Mugetsu sprang into action, leaping at the crow. It cawed in frustration, flapping about wildly. Watanuki looked around him for something useful. There was one good thing to all these piles of junk. There was no end of potential projectiles. Dodging between the legs of one suit of armor, Watanuki grabbed for a baseball from one of the junk piles.

He watched the crow, waiting for a chance to strike. One of the samurai armors tried to grab him, but Haruka took care of that problem. Mugetsu leaped at the crow again, distracting it while throwing fox fire around. The crow now couldn’t find any place to land. While the bird’s attention was on avoiding Mugetsu’s teeth, Watanuki launched the baseball at the bird’s feet.

The child let out a cheer as the arrow was knocked out of the crow’s claws. Several of the armored samurai disappeared as the crow lost its balance. Mugetsu jumped through the fox fire and caught the arrow before it hit the floor, snapping it in two with its powerful jaws.

The terrified crow only had time to utter one last caw before Haruka loosed the shot that pierced through its heart. The bird was killed instantly.

The fox fire died down to nothing as Watanuki turned to thank Haruka for helping. All he saw was Doumeki falling to the ground. “Doumeki!” He raced over and tried to turn his best friend over so that he was on his back. It was hard work for a child of 6 who was fairly skinny to begin with. “Hey, wake up! Hey!!”

Mugetsu whined at his side, nuzzling his good shoulder affectionately. “He’s alright then?” A tired bark of affirmative. Watanuki felt his anger rising, but was too tired to rant. Adrenaline was already receding from his blood. “Idiot,” was what he finally settled for. “Stop making people worry.”

The pipe fox yawned and curled up by the wall, preparing to sleep. “We can’t...” - A yawn of his own interrupted - “sleep here, can we?”

Completely ignoring its favorite human for once, Mugetsu closed its eyes and laid its head on its paws. Watanuki gave up. He couldn’t carry Doumeki on his own or Mugetsu in this size, much less both of them. Besides, he was bloody and tired and was bound to have a ton of bruises in the morning. “It was almost night time when we left... I wonder what time it is now? Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night either...”

But he had two things he needed to get done before he could sleep. First, get some bandages so that he didn’t die of blood loss. Watanuki also had to make sure Doumeki was back to normal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote of the chapter: I think this one would be Mugetsu's reaction to Watanuki if he could talk. XD And as an added plus, it's from my favorite epic poem.
> 
> "There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep."  
> -Homer, _The Odyssey_


	7. Sharing

_So I smile and try to mean it_  
 _And let myself let go..._  
  


Doumeki woke with the kind of headache that generally only had one cause: Watanuki. It left him unable to remember clearly any of what had happened, though he distinctly remembered something being wrong with Watanuki’s face...

Forcing his eyes open slowly, the first thing he saw was the object of the aforementioned headache in profile. But why was Watanuki a child? His dull and addled brain told him there was a reason, even if he couldn’t remember it. Possibly something to do with this headache. So he pushed that thought aside and tried to focus more on the be-speckled child. Maybe he could find an answer there.

They were in an unfamiliar place, that much was certain. There was junk all around. Watanuki was leaning against a wall with his legs curled up against his chest, as far away from the junk as he could get.. He looked dejected and exhausted, staring at something black and fuzzy that he held in his hands. “A feather?”

The sound of his voice surprised both of them. Watanuki hadn’t realized the archer was awake and Doumeki was mildly surprised at how dry his voice sounded. When was the last time he had anything to drink? He forced a gulp down in an attempt to naturally moisturize his throat.

Well, Watanuki didn’t seem to want to move. After his initial surprise, the child had gone back to staring at the feather. Doumeki tried sitting up. Emphasis on tried. Because it was around this time that Doumeki found he no longer had the use of his arms. Someone had tied them behind his back. Not too tight so that it would hurt, but very securely. Closer inspection also proved his feet were bound as well with what looked like an old rope. Whatever it was keeping his hands back didn’t feel like rope, however...

Back on the ground since his attempt failed, he threw an upside down glance at the child. “Oi. Why am I tied up?”

“My name isn’t ‘Oi,’ for one thing. You’re tied up because I didn’t know if you would wake up and attack me, you moron.” Watanuki’s usual energy was lacking, almost as if he was fighting to keep his eyes open. But the statement had an odd ring to it that Doumeki didn’t quite understand.

Curiosity got the better of him. “Why would I attack you?”

That mustered up a little energy from Watanuki. He openly gaped, letting his legs slide out to the ground. “You mean, you don’t remember anything that happened?”

Doumeki paused for a few moments. Unfamiliar place. Watanuki in a child’s body. Absolutely no idea of how any of that happened, though he felt something tugging at his memory. “Not at the moment, no,” he settled on saying. If only his headache would clear out he might be able to remember some things.

Watanuki leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He laughed, a mixture of child-like sound and world-weary tone that was disconcerting to Doumeki. He had expected a more annoyed response. “It’s probably better that way.” If anything, the child sounded... relieved?

Mugetsu whined softly in its sleep. Watanuki reached out to pet it gently as it slept by his side. Exhaustion had been an understatement, Doumeki decided. Just what was it he couldn’t remember?

Not caring if it was undignified, Doumeki wiggled his way into a sitting position. He never really cared for appearances anyway. Now that he was sitting, the boy from the shrine surveyed the room with an impassive face.

Yes, it was certain. He had never seen this room before. Heaps of junk with an assortment of trash and valuables were littered every where. Though, both himself and the child were sitting in places devoid of fallen objects. Watanuki probably had a hand in that. There were windows higher up, but in his current position sitting down Doumeki couldn’t see what was on the other side of them. Sunlight did show through, so he assumed they were at least safe from some of the nastier spirits that attacked at night.

What did catch his eye was a small dead black bird a little ways off. A crow or a raven, Doumeki couldn’t tell. The area it was in was also devoid of junk. Regardless, it wasn’t a threat at the moment, so he re-focused his attention on the reason for the pounding in his skull.

Watanuki was back in his original position, twirling a black feather (from that bird?) in his hands. He was curled up and looking anywhere but the dead bird in question. What surprised Doumeki was how many cuts and bruises the child had. Watanuki’s tiny arms and legs looked like they had been through a shredder and then dyed black and blue. Even the child’s face was dirty. His glasses askew and leaves in his hair proving Watanuki had gone through some sort of adventure to get here.

The worst of the injuries was on the shoulder Doumeki had a clear view of. It was bandaged sloppily with some sort of strange fabric, probably found somewhere in the junk heap. Mugetsu also sported a much neater version of the make-shift band-aids on one of his front legs.

Just what had he forgotten? ‘ _It’s probably better that way_ ,’ Watanuki’s child-like voice rang through his slowly clearing head. Doumeki tried shaking his head to clear it more, but ended up just making the headache worse. Brilliant move, that one.

Watanuki had already made his intentions of not saying anything clear. Besides, the kid looked too exhausted for the archer to try and force the truth out of him. That, and there was still on minor detail that was a bit more important...

“Are you going to untie me?”

A weak glare was his response. “It’s punishment. Pun-ish-ment. Meaning, you deserve it for all that you put me through.”

Doumeki saw the real reason under the complaint. Watanuki was simply too tired to move again. He looked about ready to doze off any second.

Alright, change of tactics. Seeing Watanuki this depressed bothered the archer. And when all else fails, teasing might at least get him untied. “I didn’t think you were into that kind of thing,” he said in a dead pan voice, hoping it would lighten the mood.

“What kind of...” Realization dawns. “I am _not_ , you bloody pervert.” Only half-felt and devoid of any of the usual energy and emotion. Doumeki was really starting to get worried. “Would you just hurry up and get over here? I need a pillow to sleep on and I don’t want to accidentally jar Mugetsu’s leg,” he said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

Doumeki sent him a glare that read ‘easier said then done.’ But they were both accustomed to asking the impossible of each other and he saw mentioning how unreasonable Watanuki was being would be useless. No more unreasonable than usual anyway. A high maintenance kitten, indeed.

Inching his way over to the wall, Doumeki didn’t quite comprehend his reason for doing so yet. Two and two was not quite equaling four to the source of his headache. It was adding up to 5 and a half in some way that only Watanuki logic could solve. “How does me coming over here solve your need of a pillow?” he asked before adding thoughtfully, “Are you going to untie me yet?”

“Punishment!” Watanuki said childishly. “It’s so you don’t go and disappear again and make me go through all of this for an ungrateful jerk like you!” By this point, Doumeki had managed to inch his way over to the wall next to the child’s side. Watanuki surprised the archer by placing his small head on Doumeki’s shoulder and closing his eyes. “It’s the least you can do... after what you did... I’m using your shoulder... to sleep on.”

He honestly wasn’t sure of what surprised him more. The fact that Watanuki was now leaned against his shoulder and sleeping or that the child could rant in his sleep. Doumeki shifted, trying to get a little more comfortable without waking the ‘kitten’ up. At least, as comfortable as he could be with both hands behind his back tied securely.

Doumeki hadn’t realized how tired _he_ had been until moving to the wall had taken up so much of his remaining strength. Had he been fighting? He felt like he had used a lot of spirit arrows. Or maybe something had just zapped all his energy. A little of both sounded about right to his stubborn memory that refused to give him answers.

Looking down at Watanuki, he felt his body tense. There was a deep cut on Watanuki’s cheek that had been turned away from him. The dried blood taunted him as his memory slap him across the face. He had done this. He didn’t remember why or when, but he knew that one of his arrows had made that cut to the cheek of one of the few friends he had. Doumeki Shizuka had hurt Watanuki Kimihiro intentionally.

‘ _It’s so you don’t go and disappear again... after what you did..._ ’ It hadn’t been his memory that was guilty of withholding the information. It had been denial.

* * *

Haruka was waiting for him on the porch, smoking his usual cigarette as the fireflies danced with the smoke. The full moon reflected its pale light on the two of them as Watanuki took a seat next to Doumeki’s grandfather. “Thank you for helping me,” he said quietly. Amazing how easy the admission was compared to when he had to force himself to say it to the younger Doumeki.

Haruka nodded, smiling gently. Nothing to prepare him for what Haruka was going to say next. “Did you enjoy tying Shizuka up?”

“I didn’t... It’s not...” he sputter, blushing at what Haruka was implying. Like grandfather, like grandson... “He deserved it,” Watanuki stated finally, not mention that this whole fiasco was his fault to begin with.

Haruka chuckled quietly. Though Watanuki wouldn’t admit it, Haruka’s attempts to cheer him up helped a little. “Haruka-san, what was it that we fought today?” The thought of the crow’s lifeless body lying on the ground came to his memory. It made him slightly nauseous and uncomfortable at the same time.

Doumeki’s grandfather took a deep drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke out of his lungs before answering. “It was as you saw, a simple crow. Before it had killed the hag spirit that attacked you, it was content just collecting items and ‘treasures’ for its nest. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have even been able to kill the hag spirit. But since Shizuka had fatally wounded it, it was easy picking for a crow.”

Watanuki pieced the rest of the information together in his own mind before voicing his conclusion. “So, by killing the hag-spirit, the crow ‘collected’ its abilities too? Then the reason he could look just like me was because the hag had absorbed part of me? And...” Watanuki finished the thought in silence. And because the crow looked like him, it was able to crack through Doumeki’s defenses and take control of him.

Haruka’s kindly smiling expression didn’t change, but Watanuki could sense the change in mood. A solemn silence penetrated the air.

“It’s half each, don’t you think?”

“Eh?” Watanuki looked up, confused. The image of himself handing Doumeki a lunch box flashed through his mind, just after he had accepted part of the archer’s right eye... It was almost exactly what Doumeki had said back then.

“Half each. It doesn’t only refer to the work and responsibility, but to the guilt and happiness too.”

Watanuki looked away, his eyes following a lone firefly that danced in the bushes near by. Guilt and happiness... shared? While he wasn’t all too thrilled sharing anything with Doumeki, knowing that it wasn’t totally his fault was comforting. Not in a blaming way, but sharing the guilt equally lifted some of the weight off his shoulders.

“Shizuka is slowly remembering what has passed,” Haruka said gently, making Watanuki’s stomach drop. Even though he should have felt annoyed with the fact that Doumeki hadn’t remembered what Watanuki had gone through to get to him... Still, he had been relieved when Doumeki said he couldn’t remember the encounter. “Look after him, please. He might need some confidence later.”

Doumeki needing confidence? He looked back at Haruka in surprise, only to find that Doumeki’s grandfather was no longer there. So he was left alone with his thoughts in the quiet night on the dream temple’s porch.

* * *

“We need to find a way to get out of here,” Watanuki said softly as he untied the archer. Doumeki didn’t say anything, rubbing his wrists in silence after he was freed. The most annoying thing was that when Doumeki stood up, Watanuki only came up to his rival’s waist. He really needed to fix this age reversion problem...

“The stairs I came up disappeared,” he continued on, standing on tip toe to look outside the window. They were on the top floor. Not a distance he would want to jump. Especially not after the first hand experience with only two stories. “Maybe there’s more stairs on the opposite wall?”

Searching the left wall proved fruitless. He glanced back at Mugetsu who just whined, wanting to be pet by its favorite human. No help from that direction. Much to his disgruntlement, Doumeki was just sitting and staring down at his hands. He wasn’t even pretending to search!

“Doumeki! What are you doing!?” Still no response. His rival was being almost as spacey as when he was fighting the control...

Watanuki walked over and stepped on his rival’s foot as hard as he could. That got some reaction at least. A flash of pain and annoyance crossed Doumeki’s face as he looked down to see a very angry six year old. “Are you going to help me look for a way out or what? You’re totally useless!”

Judging from the look in Doumeki’s eye, that was the wrong thing to say. Frustration boiled over. “You’re the moron! You always try to shoulder everything by yourself and try to protect me! Well, it’s not all your fault. So you should be grateful that the illustrious Watanuki-sama is trying to cheer up a difficult jerk like you!”

The silence that fell was different from before. For once, that disagreeable Doumeki had actually listened and was considering Watanuki’s words. As well he should!

The silence went on for far longer than his patience did however. Doumeki was just staring at him blankly... “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything? Bow down in thanks for the effort I went through?”

“Moron,” he said, before walking off to help the search. Mugetsu barked happily as the atmosphere when back to normal.

What really made Watanuki blow the roof was the smirk he caught on his rival’s face as he walked by. “What the hell! Don’t you know how to properly thank someone, you ill-mannered oaf!” as he was chasing toward said oaf to step on his foot again, Watanuki failed to notice that he was about to step on a reflective surface. “After all I went through, I still tried-”

The rant was cut short as he fell through the portal, yelping at the sudden lack of solidity under his feet. It wasn’t too long before several branches broke his fall. He landed in the grass with a soft thunk, under the bare branches of a cherry tree. Hadn’t he fallen out of enough trees today?

Watanuki wasn’t given much of a chance to breathe however. The spirits immediately took notice of his presence, almost before he realized that he was back in the cemetery that this whole mess had started in.

The child let out a yell as he tried to run away. The spirits were quicker, unfortunately. They were on top of him, forcing the air out of his lungs as he tried to breath in more of the fouled air. “Help... me...” he said as he struggled.

The strongest of the spirits had a toothy grin as its mouth grew wide enough to encompass Watanuki’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two quotes this time. The first one spurred a line in the fic. Even though it's meant in a more romantic relationship in the movie, I think it fits Doumeki's and Watanuki's relationship very well too. The second... Well, it's just for kicks. It's what I was thinking when Crowe got hit with Haruka-san's arrow.
> 
> "We are accustomed to asking a lot of one another."  
> -Linda Porter, _Delovely_
> 
> "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'"  
> -Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"


	8. Epilogue: You Could Tell the Difference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** A very annoyed Watanuki. And no more cliff hangers! Yay! Also, it's unbeta'ed, but ah, well.  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Tsubasa or xxxHolic, nor do I make any claim to. Nor can I claim the lyrics from the song "Any Other World" by Mika. Just borrowing it, since it goes so well with the fic. Also, "The Lady of Shalott" is not mine... Though it is a beautiful poem. Look it up if you haven't read it already.

_Take a bow, play the part of a lonely, lonely heart_  
 _Say good-bye to the world you thought you lived in._  


Watanuki was really going to be eaten this time. His panicked and air-deprived mind grasped hold of that one thought. Doumeki wouldn’t be able to find the mirror, and Mugetsu was left behind as well, and he was really going to be eaten this time! He continued to struggle fruitlessly against his fate. He went through all of that, just to be eaten by a normal spirit.

The twang of a bow rang through the air and a few seconds later Watanuki was able to breath again. “You... are late,” he said before blanking out entirely.

He woke up a little later, very disgruntled with finding himself flung over Doumeki’s shoulder. This resulted in much yelling and ranting on his part while his rival set Watanuki down if just to better plug his ears. In the very least, things were definitely back to normal between them. Watanuki could almost forget that he was still in a six year old body in his relief. Almost, being the key word.

They arrived at the shop without anymore trouble to find a grinning Yuuko. But this time- oh, this time- Watanuki had the upper hand. “Just homework, you said! It turned out to be a very valuable clue! I wouldn’t have known about the mirrors otherwise!” he gloated happily after the formal greetings, very proud of himself for finally being right.

Yuuko shrugged, still retaining her Cheshire grin. “What clue?” Doumeki asked, curious.

“The one you left me about the mirrors!” Blood drained from his face. No, it had to be that Doumeki didn’t remember it yet. He was right this time. “That poem, from that Tennyson guy!”

A light went on in Doumeki’s insensitive head. Watanuki felt pride swell back up before it was shot brutally to the ground again a few seconds later. “Oh. That was my English homework.”

Strangling Doumeki sounded really good right now. No, Watanuki was sure he could come up with a far slower and more satisfying death for the archer. He stood there, his hands balled into fists with a forced grin as Maru and Moru danced around him singing about homework. Just as he was about to explode, Yuuko pre-maturely but his fuse. “The one who held your missing years is dead?”

The child looked away, his slightly too big glasses slipping down his nose. “Yes,” he said, trying not to think of the dead crow in a faraway deserted building. Mugetsu licked his cheek playfully. “Hey, cut that out...” Yes, he still had to change the pipe fox back to its smaller form. He should be thinking about how he could accomplish that feat, rather than a dead crow.

Doumeki, who Watanuki hadn’t even realized had disappeared, returned with Yuuko’s first aid kit. “Mokona will help! Mokona will help!” it said as it bounced up and down and into Watanuki’s scratched arms. Remarkably enough, Mokona magically missed standing on any place that would have caused him pain. “Mokona is a good doctor!”

He raised his eyebrow at it in disbelief, but the Witch of Dimensions held up her hand. “Hold on for a moment,” she said, pulling out a strange looking medallion. “You put the bandages on now and they will be too small.”

“You mean... That’s the cure!?” He nearly dropped Mokona in his excitement. No more standing on tip toe to reach everything! He would be able to cook without being too troubled by Maru and Moru! He could go back to school!

Yuuko held the medallion out and the child accepted it gingerly. “Put it on.” He hesitated, running his fingers along the intricately carved pattern. It looked just like the patterns on Sakura’s feathers... Turning it over, Watanuki found letters of some sort, though he couldn’t read the words. Watanuki looked up at Yuuko who smiled encouragingly as he slipped the medallion’s chain over his head.

The exceedingly bright light that followed forced him to close his eyes. He wasn’t quite certain what to expect after that. Perhaps a growing sensation, or a brief pain to show that he was changing. When the light faded, however, the only things that he felt different were his clothes being too tight and his glasses too small.

Exhaustion hit him full force seconds later. Watanuki staggered forward, caught by Mugetsu. So much for all the sleep he had gotten...

“Watanuki, why don’t you go change. Mokona will help.” Yuuko smiled as half-hearted grumbles about how he could do it himself reached her ears. But Mokona and Mugetsu led the now teenaged boy off easily. The change had taxed his body so much. Combined with blood-loss, Watanuki didn’t have the strength to put up a fight. Maru and Moru followed afterward, mimicking Watanuki’s yawns.

Yuuko sat on the porch, drinking sake in the moonlight. “The payment?” Doumeki asked softly, taking a seat beside her.

She offered a glass to Doumeki before pouring more for herself after he declined. “It has been received.”

Worry and a small bit of confusion entered Doumeki’s golden eyes. “It wasn’t finished yet.”

“The arrow served its purpose, though it failed to pierce the first time because it hadn’t been finished.” She finished off the second cup easily, letting her long silky hair fall from her shoulders. “Since you were taken before it could be finished, the rest of the price was paid by someone else. She wanted to insure a certain person’s safety, but the price she offered was too high. However, so she agreed to pay the rest of this wish after hearing about it.”

“Why?”

She leaned back, looking up at the autumn moon in the cloudless sky. Somewhere up there was the path that the lost souls took to come to the person that called them. “Because the dream must end. And because very soon, that person may find herself very lonely. Watanuki will visit her when the time comes.”

Doumeki still did not understand, but he sensed rightly enough that Yuuko wasn’t going to say anything more on the matter. Understanding of this incident was not necessary for the whole. It was enough that Hitsuzen had solved the matter in its own way.

Watanuki returned wearing a yukata and his regular pair of glasses. He found he was too tired to interrupt the conversation on the porch, so he followed Maru and Moru’s example and went to bed. The futon was still in place since he had been sleeping at the shop after the age regression. After Mokona helped him with a few of the more necessary bandages, the black furball curled up next to him. His last thought was that Doumeki had been shivering in the autumn’s brisk air. A half formed idea took over his slipping consciousness. A pair of gloves, dark green...

_Dreams can take the place of reality._

~Fin~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On to the final quote of the chapter. It really has nothing to do with anything, but since I seem to lack a good theme to pull from this chapter, I'm going with one of my favorite quotes instead.
> 
> "No boom today, boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow." --Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5


End file.
